Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,001 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 0.9% of Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. UBS Group increased their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

Walmart stock opened at $92.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current 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.