Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases 2,800 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 244,500 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $82.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $663.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day moving average is $70.40. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $83.34.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.51.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This 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 worth $958,784,857. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.