Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Buys 910 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,708 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 valued at $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Walmart by 16.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $80.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $81.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.