B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 262,087 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $21,163,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.1% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 94,754 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,653,000 after acquiring an additional 10,257 shares in the last quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 3.8% in the third quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 4.7% in the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 19.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 106,280 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 17,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

WMT stock opened at $84.09 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $85.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $675.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % 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 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Melius Research began coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

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.