Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 9,179 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,600 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,179 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 201.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 165.4% during the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after buying an additional 168,346 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 307.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 160,292 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,645,000 after buying an additional 120,919 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in Walmart by 183.6% during the first quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 43,365 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 28,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 215.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,113,565 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $187,343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127,332 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $84.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.78.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.18.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. 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.