First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Sells 12,977 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,759 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12,977 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.8% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $14,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Walmart by 181.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Walmart by 187.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,334,337 shares of company stock worth $958,577,287 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $81.43 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.86. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $83.34. 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 company has a market cap of $654.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its 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 last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

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.