Willis Investment Counsel Has $26.98 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 171,630 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 184 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.7% of Willis Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Walmart were worth $26,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Walmart by 0.8% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 126,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the first quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 7.3% during the first quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 6.2% during the first quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $503,000. Institutional investors own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $161,370.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,149,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.97, for a total transaction of $330,923,871.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,440,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,250,844,765.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock worth $1,005,802,298. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $176.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $169.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.51.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $164.64 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.07 and a 1 year high of $165.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $443.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.