Vista Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vista Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,947 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 248.9% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 31,457 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 22,441 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Walmart by 141.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 29,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 17,102 shares during the period. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 202.2% in the 1st quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC now owns 32,938 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 22,037 shares in the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 201.9% during the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 128,921 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,757,000 after acquiring an additional 86,219 shares during the period. Finally, TL Private Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

WMT stock opened at $80.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $650.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $81.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.39. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. 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. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart 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.