Keene & Associates Inc. Reduces Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Keene & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,311 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 11,099 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for approximately 3.6% of Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 253.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 216.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.51.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $83.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $667.58 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $83.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.08.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,295,088 shares of company stock valued at $955,284,831. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart 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.