Public Sector Pension Investment Board Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,427,958 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 139,300 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Walmart were worth $96,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beck Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 69,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,704,000 after buying an additional 12,104 shares during the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 34.3% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 185,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,553,000 after purchasing an additional 47,380 shares during the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 24.3% during the second quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 22,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 159.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 24,544 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 16.9% during the second quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,815 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 6,916 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

Walmart stock opened at $79.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $635.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $81.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.87.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

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.