Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 202 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its position in Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,144,237 shares of company stock worth $730,497,016 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $76.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $618.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $77.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.