Fred Alger Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 49.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,804 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 324,072 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $26,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 138.3% during the second 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 period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,385,186 shares of company stock valued at $963,206,365 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $92.50 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $92.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.82. The firm has a market cap of $743.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WMT. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

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.