Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 324,072 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fred Alger Management LLC lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,804 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 324,072 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $26,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 45.0% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after buying an additional 8,834 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 21.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after acquiring an additional 105,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $92.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $743.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $92.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,385,186 shares of company stock valued at $963,206,365 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

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.