Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Holdings Lowered by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the first 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased 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 buying an additional 644,353 shares during the period. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,334,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,025,027 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $80.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $649.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock 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 note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.62.

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.