Jennison Associates LLC Has $1.49 Billion Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 479.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,479,259 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.9% of Jennison Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.23% of Walmart worth $1,492,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Walmart by 0.3% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 934,302 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $75,445,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 17,961 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 167.5% during the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 95,150 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,683,000 after purchasing an additional 59,580 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $14,511,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 845.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 518,984 shares of the retailer's stock worth $41,908,000 after purchasing an additional 464,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.51.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WMT traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,428,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,813,516. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $88.29. 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 cap of $697.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.58 and a 200 day moving average of $73.34.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.