Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 99.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,163 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,098,199 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Walmart Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $93.87 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $754.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.28.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,537,610,048.28. This trade represents a 0.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,243,091 shares of company stock valued at $257,591,179 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.