Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Purchases Shares of 167,010 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 167,010 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $11,308,000. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 199.4% during 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $1,674,847.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 415,743 shares in the company, valued at $27,222,851.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,345,610,913.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $1,674,847.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 415,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,222,851.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.23. 23,093,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,417,189. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $77.47. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.53. The stock has a market cap of $621.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.50.

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