Ceeto Capital Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ceeto Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,800 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 1.3% of Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted 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 acquiring an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.24 during 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 market cap of $561.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.81 and its 200-day moving average is $61.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $71.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s 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 owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company 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.