State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $132.44 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,640,114 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.5% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Walmart were worth $132,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.98 on Friday, hitting $84.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,396,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,546,657. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $85.54. The stock has a market cap of $681.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.01.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.00 % 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 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.