Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 226,567 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,953,907 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 226,567 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Walmart worth $335,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the first 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 stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 834,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $79.06 on Friday. The firm 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 current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.78. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $81.02.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

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.