Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,573 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wal-Mart Stores were worth $1,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Services Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Alexandria Capital LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.9% in the first quarter. Alexandria Capital LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Lawrence B boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 6,050 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.8% in the first quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.12% of the company’s stock.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) opened at 80.48 on Friday. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $81.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.55 and its 200-day moving average is $73.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.29.
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $116.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.01 billion. Wal-Mart Stores had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will post $4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Pacific Crest lowered shares of Wal-Mart Stores to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 30th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Saturday, May 13th. UBS AG reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Sunday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup Inc. set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.86.
In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,476,374 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $193,949,611.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,748,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $528,548,785.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,576,324 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.65, for a total transaction of $202,627,882.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,748,580 shares in the company, valued at $530,775,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,006,720 shares of company stock worth $1,816,131,604 over the last ninety days. 51.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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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