High Falls Advisors Inc Buys 6,067 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

High Falls Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 172.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,592 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,067 shares during the quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 quarter, insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.6 %

WMT stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.18. The company had a trading volume of 12,521,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,295,771. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $71.33. The company has a market cap of $556.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.00 and a 200 day moving average of $62.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.