Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $1.97 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,535 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.6% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,104,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,691,763,000 after buying an additional 249,501 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 112,181.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,834,564 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Walmart by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,382,688 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,173,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923,199 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $2,598,736,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,685,848 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,515,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,452 shares during the last quarter. 33.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,149,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.97, for a total value of $330,923,871.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,440,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,250,844,765.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,493,773 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,802,298 in the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.51.

Walmart Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.70. The stock had a trading volume of 973,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,933,457. The firm has a market cap of $437.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.07 and a fifty-two week high of $165.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.