Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,476 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,905 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,353,881,000 after purchasing an additional 484,196 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $91.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $738.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.70, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $92.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 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.