Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 97,335 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,316,752 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 97,335 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $187,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its position in Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,740,000 after buying an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $723,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,787,946.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,784,857. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $82.51 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.40. The firm has a market cap of $663.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 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 one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $83.34.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.51.

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.