Community Trust & Investment Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Community Trust & Investment Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 364,779 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,540 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 1.9% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $29,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,353,881,000 after purchasing an additional 484,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Walmart by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after purchasing an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,787,946.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,589,163.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,787,946.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.51.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $82.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $659.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $82.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.