Headinvest LLC Raises Stake in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Headinvest LLC raised its position in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,776 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Wal-Mart Stores comprises approximately 1.2% of Headinvest LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Headinvest LLC’s holdings in Wal-Mart Stores were worth $3,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 89.2% in the first quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.7% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. now owns 1,511 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Wal-Mart Stores during the first quarter worth about $201,000. High Point Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. High Point Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,960 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 75.2% in the first quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,099 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. 30.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) opened at 76.89 on Tuesday. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $80.47. The firm has a market cap of $231.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.51 and its 200 day moving average is $73.01. Wal-Mart Stores also was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 5,107 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 351% compared to the typical volume of 1,132 put options.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. Wal-Mart Stores had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business had revenue of $116.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will post $4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a report on Saturday, May 13th. UBS AG reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a report on Sunday, May 21st. Vetr raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $71.15 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, July 10th. Jefferies Group LLC set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Wal-Mart Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.33.

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,321,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.61, for a total transaction of $103,870,537.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David Chojnowski sold 5,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.36, for a total value of $408,069.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,006,720 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,131,604 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.

Wal-Mart Stores Company Profile

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc is engaged in the operation of retail, wholesale and other units in various formats around the world. The Company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment includes its mass merchant concept in the United States operating under the Walmart or Wal-Mart brands, as well as digital retail.

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