Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 196.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,742 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,719 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.96.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.72 on Wednesday, reaching $80.93. 1,466,438 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,148,432. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $650.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,335,272 shares of company stock valued at $958,101,276. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.