First Foundation Advisors Sells 1,072 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Foundation Advisors lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,291 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Walmart by 16.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMT. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WMT opened at $77.35 on Tuesday. 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 $77.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $621.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.64 and a 200-day moving average of $65.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,510,437 shares of company stock worth $487,759,176 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.