Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 474,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 27,078 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.6% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $38,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 216.4% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.15.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $84.92. 308,622 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,656,311. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.44. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $682.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company 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.