Argent Trust Co Has $33.16 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,711 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,504 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.5% of Argent Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $33,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Walmart by 16.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in 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 last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.48. The company has a market cap of $631.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.