Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 25,627 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 236,480 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25,627 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $723,000. Finally, Meridian Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 200.2% in the first quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 140,880 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,477,000 after buying an additional 93,955 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,334,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,577,287 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $82.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $83.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.41. The firm has a market cap of $662.75 billion, a PE ratio of 42.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.89.

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.