V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 573 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,348 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $295,000. Mainsail Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.6% during the second quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC now owns 14,586 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.4% during the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 187,502 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,696,000 after purchasing an additional 14,569 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,414,087 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,458,000 after purchasing an additional 134,372 shares during the period. Finally, FCG Investment Co lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.5% during the second quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 18,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,455,147. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.56.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $68.61. The stock had a trading volume of 13,078,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,365,734. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $71.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $551.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.