Busey Bank Sells 704 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Busey Bank lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,617 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 704 shares during the period. Busey Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,740,000 after purchasing an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $723,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,784,857. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $82.51 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $663.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.17.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.51.

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.