Prudent Man Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,435 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP lifted its holdings in Walmart by 186.6% in the first quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $621,723,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727,200 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $84.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $85.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.98. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart 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.