S Robson Walton Sells 1,804,000 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,804,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total value of $142,840,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 605,979,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,981,442,399.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

S Robson Walton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 19th, S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00.
• On Monday, September 9th, S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.05. The stock had a trading volume of 21,515,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,435,295. The stock has a market capitalization of $627.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Walmart by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC lifted their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

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.