Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Sells 1,301 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,073 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.3% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 184.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $80.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $650.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.14 and a 200-day moving average of $69.83. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $81.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total value of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,123,611.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America increased 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

Walmart Company 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.