Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Mizuho Markets Americas LLC

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 23.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,187 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 24,959 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co lifted its position in Walmart by 50.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 35,352 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 11,857 shares in the last quarter. Gouws Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.3% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 28,970 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 146,589 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 849,801 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $68,621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock 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 company has a market capitalization of $677.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.78. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $85.79.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the 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 owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.38 % 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 valued at $958,823,647 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.18.

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.