Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 8,244 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 497,283 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,244 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.6% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $40,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 253.0% during the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 216.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $84.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $678.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $85.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.53. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.84.

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.