Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,216 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Walmart by 3.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after buying an additional 484,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.51.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $83.05 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $83.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $78.71 and a 200-day moving average of $70.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $667.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,295,088 shares of company stock valued at $955,284,831 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.