Bridgewater Associates LP Has $229.68 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,844,325 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,671,025 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 1.3% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $229,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $733.97 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.36. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $91.88.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

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.