Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 26,760 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443,941 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 26,760 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $30,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Walmart by 16.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $79.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $73.44 and its 200 day moving average is $66.78. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart 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.