Parallel Advisors LLC Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,198 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,535 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Walmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 3,155 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $145,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $80.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.51 and a 200 day moving average of $66.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $647.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $80.68.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Company 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.