Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 828 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,065 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 828 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Walmart by 7.6% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,919,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,908,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,320 shares in the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 6,198.0% in the second quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 1,457,491 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $201,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,349 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Walmart by 34.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,258,231 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $783,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,328 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Walmart by 85.3% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,399,536 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $357,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 13,928.8% in the second quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,018,354 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,095 shares in the last quarter. 31.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.89, for a total value of $1,049,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 37,921 shares in the company, valued at $5,683,978.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.89, for a total value of $1,049,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 37,921 shares in the company, valued at $5,683,978.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 350,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.31, for a total value of $50,158,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 267,693,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,363,174,831.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,831,902 shares of company stock worth $1,312,822,421. 47.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.3 %

WMT stock traded down $1.79 on Wednesday, reaching $141.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 410,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,178,364. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.27. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $117.27 and a 12-month high of $160.77. The firm has a market cap of $380.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.14, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 15th. The retailer reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $152.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.80 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 1.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Walmart declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the retailer to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walmart from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $155.00 target price on Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.42.

About Walmart

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.