MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $91.20 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,129,398 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 11,247 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 0.5% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $91,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $91.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $739.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $92.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.