Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Private Wealth Advisors Inc.

Private Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,872 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Private Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wal-Mart Stores were worth $2,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox purchased a new position in Wal-Mart Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,503,922,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in Wal-Mart Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,739,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 161.4% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,297,419 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,678,000 after buying an additional 2,035,800 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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. Finally, Highfields Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Wal-Mart Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,120,000. 30.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE WMT) opened at 81.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.00. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.28 and a 12-month high of $81.99. Wal-Mart Stores also was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 5,107 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 351% compared to the typical volume of 1,132 put options.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $116.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.01 billion. Wal-Mart Stores had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will post $4.36 EPS for the current year.

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A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a report on Friday, May 5th. Pacific Crest lowered Wal-Mart Stores to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Saturday, May 13th. UBS AG reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Sunday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Sunday, June 4th. Four 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. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.86.

In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 3,278,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $259,020,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,507,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,070,696. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $104,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,502.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,006,720 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,131,604. Corporate 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.