Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,397 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16,763 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Walmart were worth $26,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE WMT opened at $94.57 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $759.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.28.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen 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 Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. This trade represents a 0.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,243,091 shares of company stock valued at $257,591,179 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.