Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 1,468 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lowered its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 129,857 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,468 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.6% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $20,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 126,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the first quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $503,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.51.

Walmart Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $162.61. 1,078,509 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,933,457. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.07 and a 52-week high of $165.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.34 and a 200-day moving average of $152.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.22 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,183,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.52, for a total value of $184,078,137.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 240,230,516 shares in the company, valued at $37,360,649,848.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,183,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.52, for a total transaction of $184,078,137.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 240,230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,360,649,848.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,802,298. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.