Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Lessened by Stephens Consulting LLC

Stephens Consulting LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.23. The stock had a trading volume of 23,093,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,417,189. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.47. The firm has a market cap of $621.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total value of $82,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 640,532,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,345,610,913.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on WMT shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.64.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.