Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,476 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,905 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CAP Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.4% during the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % 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 $958,823,647 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $91.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $738.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.70, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $92.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

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.