Brown Financial Advisors Sells 712 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Brown Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,520 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 712 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $1,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of WMT opened at $93.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.54. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.28.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. This trade represents a 0.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,243,091 shares of company stock valued at $257,591,179. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.11.

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.