Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 167,010 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $11,308,000. Walmart comprises about 0.9% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.23. 23,093,840 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,417,189. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.53. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $621.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total value of $82,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares in the company, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,345,610,913.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.64.

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.