Comerica Bank Sells 115,853 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Comerica Bank cut its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,739,769 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 115,853 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $117,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 48,006 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,127,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,592,715 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,973,000 after purchasing an additional 34,588 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE WMT opened at $79.78 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.48. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $81.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $641.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. 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 released 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 firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average 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.