Capital Wealth Planning LLC Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC decreased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,594,709 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,479,330 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 3.3% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned 0.06% of Walmart worth $311,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st 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 increased its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased 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 valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $80.60 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $80.68. The company has a market cap of $647.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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.