Terril Brothers Inc. Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Terril Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 29.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,339 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Terril Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first 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 grew 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the 2nd 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $80.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $647.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 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 $81.02.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

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.