Cerity Partners LLC Has $139.98 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,733,519 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 124,730 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $139,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 165.4% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 168.9% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,531,461 shares of the retailer's stock worth $92,148,000 after buying an additional 961,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Walmart by 193.3% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 74,195 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,464,000 after buying an additional 48,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

WMT traded up $2.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.44. 23,990,645 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,037,011. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock's 50-day moving average is $82.12 and its 200 day moving average is $73.84. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $90.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $726.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.88.

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.