Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 7,200 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,630 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,200 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $90.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $726.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $90.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.84.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Walmart 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.