Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Major Shareholder Alice L. Walton Sells 2,375,563 Shares

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $76.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.81. The firm has a market cap of $618.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 29,541 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,657,000 after buying an additional 7,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $2,340,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.