Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 171,701 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 10,395 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 253.0% during the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 216.4% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $80.90 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $650.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.39.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,123,611.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,123,611.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.