Planning Directions Inc. Trims Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Planning Directions Inc. cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,499 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the quarter. Planning Directions Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Walmart by 284.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 186.6% in the 1st quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $621,723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,727,200 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $84.25 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $677.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.98.

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