Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,905 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Walmart by 284.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $621,723,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727,200 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $84.45 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 stock has a market cap of $678.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.53. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $85.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % 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 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Melius Research started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $84.84.

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.