Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 550 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,630 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $44,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 484,196 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $84.15.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,879,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,667,996. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $687.67 billion, a PE ratio of 44.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $85.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents 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 $958,823,647 over the last ninety days. 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.