Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,535 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 1.6% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $127,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

WMT traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $162.70. 973,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,933,457. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.07 and a fifty-two week high of $165.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $437.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares in the company, valued at $27,390,136.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 473,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.75, for a total transaction of $73,727,377.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 241,479,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,610,376,989.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock worth $1,005,802,298. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Piper Sandler raised Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.51.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.