abrdn plc Sells 54,358 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

abrdn plc lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,607,063 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 54,358 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $128,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 253.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 216.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $82.75 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.63. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $83.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $665.17 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.83.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This 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 at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,784,857. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.