Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,594 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 192.1% during 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. raised its stake in Walmart by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter valued at $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $79.06 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.78. The company has a market capitalization of $635.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 4.03 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 issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. 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. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.