Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Acquires Shares of 541,399 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 541,399 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $32,874,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,751 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 22,878 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,607,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 45,315 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,144,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.83.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock valued at $953,023,399. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $69.79 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $561.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.