Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 32,250 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after buying an additional 484,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $83.26 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.08. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $83.34. The company has a market cap of $669.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 606,165 shares in the company, valued at $49,123,611.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares in the company, valued at $49,123,611.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,295,088 shares of company stock valued at $955,284,831. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.51.

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.