Puzo Michael J Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Puzo Michael J purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,897 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after buying an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,498,614 shares of company stock worth $951,441,747. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $70.04. 13,774,656 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,346,598. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.57. The company has a market capitalization of $563.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $71.33.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current 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.