Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires 220,168 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 195.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 332,907 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 220,168 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 0.7% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $20,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $3,674,652,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $553,545,000 after buying an additional 3,488,530 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 14,035.2% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,274,428 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $200,914,000 after buying an additional 1,265,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.97.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.91. The company had a trading volume of 25,891,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,038,200. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.75. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $68.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $546.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock worth $950,549,592. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.