Willis Investment Counsel Has $31.10 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Willis Investment Counsel decreased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 385,145 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 2.0% of Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Walmart were worth $31,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,740,000 after purchasing an additional 421,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

WMT stock opened at $80.10 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.93. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $644.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,862,930.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,648,499. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,335,272 shares of company stock valued at $958,101,276. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.32.

Walmart Company 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.