Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,015,409 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,106 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.6% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $81,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 21.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,400,000 after buying an additional 105,430 shares during the period. Whalerock Point Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 213.5% during the first quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 20,167 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 201.0% in 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $84.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $85.07. 1,221,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,643,002. The company has a market capitalization of $683.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. 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 twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $85.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.