The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 1,230,518 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,569,183 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,230,518 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 0.7% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Walmart were worth $853,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Walmart by 202.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,431,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $567,499,000 after buying an additional 6,314,185 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $320,246,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Walmart Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WMT opened at $89.45 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $90.95. The company has a market capitalization of $719.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.14.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Corporate 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.