Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 601,374 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 8,348 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 1.1% of Raymond James Trust N.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Raymond James Trust N.A.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $48,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Walmart by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Dupont Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 165.4% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 190.6% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,111 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 40,734 shares during the period. Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 197.3% during the 1st quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 918,540 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $55,269,000 after acquiring an additional 609,570 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Walmart Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.28. The stock had a trading volume of 18,828,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,860,588. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $90.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $81.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.54. The stock has a market cap of $725.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

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. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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.