Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 10,257 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 12.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,754 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 10,257 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Walmart were worth $7,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in 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 last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer's stock worth $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer's stock worth $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. BlueSpruce Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 186.6% in the 1st quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $621,723,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Walmart by 202.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,431,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $567,499,000 after acquiring an additional 6,314,185 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $84.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $675.94 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.15. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $85.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $86.71.

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.

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