Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $4.09 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 71.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,408 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 25,229 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,370,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Landmark Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Landmark Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 4,076 shares of the retailer's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.23. 23,229,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,417,189. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $621.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.47.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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