Vinva Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 205,652 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,291 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 0.7% of Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $16,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Carlson Capital Management raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 7,499 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % 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, 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 transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $91.88 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.48. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $92.25. The stock has a market cap of $738.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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.