Windward Capital Management Co. CA Cuts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,961 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,176 shares during the period. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’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 directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WMT opened at $76.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $616.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $77.81.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Company 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.