Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $1.31 Million Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 31.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,264 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,521 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,740,000 after purchasing an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $82.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $659.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.42 and its 200-day moving average is $69.99. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $82.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Walmart in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.51.

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.