NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Decreases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Key Points

• The NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan reduced its holdings in Walmart Inc. by 8.4%, owning 78,300 shares after selling 7,200 shares during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Walmart, with R Squared Ltd raising its position by 360.4% and Banco Santander S.A. increasing by 10.2% in the same period.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Walmart, with a consensus price target of $106.67 according to recent reports.

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan reduced its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,300 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 7,200 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 0.9% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings in Walmart were worth $6,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock worth $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1,707.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,512,368 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Walmart by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $882,282,000 after buying an additional 3,182,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 25,917,346 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,341,632,000 after buying an additional 2,643,413 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of WMT traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $99.49. The company had a trading volume of 19,042,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,544,672. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $793.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $380,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,056,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,511,128.70. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,912 shares of company stock valued at $13,863,813. 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.