Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Gleason Group Inc.

Gleason Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 190.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,767 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,023 shares during the period. Gleason Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after buying an additional 78,981 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,954,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,053,330. The stock has a market cap of $548.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.05. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Walmart 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 transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,480,846 shares of company stock worth $949,751,461. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.