Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 202 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in Walmart by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,164 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,473,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’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 transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock valued at $730,497,016. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $76.96 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $77.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $618.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

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.