Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 522,238 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 248.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 732,829 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 522,238 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $44,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Walmart by 199.3% during the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.18. 12,521,194 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,295,771. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $556.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $71.33.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly 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 business 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%. The company’s revenue 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. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at $44,648,499. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total transaction of $926,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at $44,648,499. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.