Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 10,700 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 23,273,933 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,879,370,000 after purchasing an additional 228,121 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock valued at $753,365,984. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.11.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $93.50 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $93.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $751.58 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

About Walmart

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.