First Eagle Investment Management LLC maintained its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,686 shares of the retailer’s stock at the end of the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wal-Mart Stores were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,503,922,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 2.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,040,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $723,738,000 after buying an additional 256,833 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,810,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $608,988,000 after buying an additional 1,689,794 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 24.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,072,429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $437,701,000 after buying an additional 1,188,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 3.2% in the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,308,983 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $382,672,000 after buying an additional 165,474 shares during the last quarter. 30.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE WMT) opened at 79.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.28. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $80.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.50 and its 200 day moving average is $73.26.
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. Wal-Mart Stores had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The firm had revenue of $116.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will post $4.36 EPS for the current year.
WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Sunday, June 4th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Vetr raised Wal-Mart Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.40 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Friday, April 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $75.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.46.
In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,618,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total transaction of $129,820,026.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,344,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,332,370.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 3,278,735 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $259,020,065.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,507,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,070,696. 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.
About Wal-Mart Stores
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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