William Allan Corp Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

William Allan Corp reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,944 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,176 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 4.0% of William Allan Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $91.88 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $92.25. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $83.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $738.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research 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, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.