Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 193.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,195 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,895 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after buying an additional 9,544,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Walmart by 187.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. HSBC raised their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.60.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total transaction of $1,899,758.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,989,526 shares in the company, valued at $260,236,780.98. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total value of $1,899,758.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,989,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,236,780.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.78. The company had a trading volume of 16,789,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,217,879. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.81. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $71.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share 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.