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Wal-Mart shares seem to have finally found some love.
What with unemployment at 10.2% and projected to be elevated for the foreseeable future, it would seem logical to be long the giant discount retailer. But through much of the run-up since the March lows, sexier shares caught the eyes of investors.
From the March 9 closing lows, the S&P 500 was up roughly 54% through the start of November. During the same period, Wal-Mart shares were up a measly 6%. That discrepancy, however, seemed to attract some investors with decent track records.
As Wal-Mart shares languished over the last three months, billionaire investor George Soros’ hedge fund increased its stake in Wal-Mart by about 1 million shares, Dow Jones reports. That brings his stake to 1.1 million shares, a stockpile of equity valued at $54 million, according to a filing late Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund had reduced its Wal-Mart position in the previous quarter to 89,710 shares.
Likewise, Warren Buffett doubled his holdings of Wal-Mart during the quarter ended Sept. 30. In filings, Berkshire Hathaway reported its stake in Wal-Mart rose to 37.8 million shares from the 19.9 million shares he reported holding at the end of June, according to Dow Jones.
It seems that Wal-Mart shares might now start moving in line with the broader stock market. Since the start of November, its shares are up roughly 6%, about the same as the S&P.
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MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. The Wall Street Journal's Matt Phillips is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to marketbeat@wsj.com or write Matt directly at matt.phillips@wsj.com.
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