Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,383,729 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 118,655 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Walmart were worth $160,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer's stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at $277,589,163.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,306,511 shares of company stock worth $420,470,807 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $76.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,930,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,427,691. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $77.81. The company has a market cap of $619.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.99.

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.