Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 548,425 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $44,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 292.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 393,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,796,000 after buying an additional 293,426 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in Walmart by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 2,194,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $177,216,000 after acquiring an additional 216,008 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in Walmart by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 2,749,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $222,036,000 after acquiring an additional 572,373 shares during the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 14,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 173,231 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,988,000 after purchasing an additional 9,088 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,300,460 shares of company stock worth $570,820,065 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE WMT opened at $95.70 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $96.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.71. The firm has a market cap of $769.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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.