CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 48,227 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,597 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 48,227 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after acquiring an additional 484,196 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

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 stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.49.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $88.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.92 and its 200-day moving average is $73.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $709.94 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $88.64.

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