Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 89.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,210 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 82,075 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

WMT opened at $77.35 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $77.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $621.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.62.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.85, for a total transaction of $877,406.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 658,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,031,755.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,510,437 shares of company stock worth $487,759,176. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

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.