Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 9,564 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 343,160 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,564 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first 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 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 purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Walmart by 5.4% in the 2nd 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. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $80.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $649.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.71. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $81.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total value of $1,063,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,123,611.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,334,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,025,027 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

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.