Townsend & Associates Inc Has $19.42 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 233,176 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 2.0% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 201.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 165.4% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after acquiring an additional 168,346 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter worth approximately $572,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 200.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 32,284 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 21,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 85.1% in the 1st quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 117,239 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,054,000 after purchasing an additional 53,885 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE WMT opened at $84.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $85.54. The company has a market capitalization of $682.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.92.

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.