Retireful LLC Invests $644,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 7,980 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 186.6% in the 1st quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $621,723,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727,200 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $86.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.34. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $88.29. 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 $696.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.31.

Walmart 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.