Equitable Trust Co. Has $4.12 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 60,892 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 183.0% in 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 buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.23. The company had a trading volume of 23,229,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,739,604. The stock has a market cap of $621.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $77.47.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.64.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.