Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 1,130,953 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,822,954 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,130,953 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.6% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Walmart were worth $308,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Professional Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in Walmart by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 6,987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $84.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $677.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $85.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.29 and a 200-day moving average of $72.88.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.