Ascent Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,570 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,990 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 0.7% of Ascent Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 192.1% in the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $79.78 on Friday. 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 $81.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.52. The company has a market capitalization of $641.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.96.

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.