Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $503,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 201.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 165.4% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth approximately $26,063,000. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 279.9% in the first quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,413 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 8,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 268.2% in the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 18,411 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 13,411 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents 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 $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.89.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $83.44 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $670.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.67. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.54.

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

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.