Ledyard National Bank Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ledyard National Bank lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 199.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,197 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 32,078 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock worth $953,190,060. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.09.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE WMT traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.77. 5,724,099 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,384,641. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $71.33. The firm has a market cap of $569.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current 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.