Alpha Financial Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Alpha Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,400 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 765 shares during the quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GDS Wealth Management grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 258,607 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $17,510,000 after buying an additional 12,104 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 68,708 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 272,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,469,000 after buying an additional 9,094 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 12,228 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $657,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC increased their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $80.60 on Tuesday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.34. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.02. The firm has a market cap of $647.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.99 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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $74,215,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.