Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 670.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 735,430 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 639,921 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $59,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,850 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in Walmart by 593.1% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 55,674 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,496,000 after buying an additional 66,964 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $807,000. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 48.3% in the third quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,637 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,385,186 shares of company stock valued at $963,206,365. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $92.50 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.04. The stock has a market cap of $743.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $92.64.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

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.