Payden & Rygel Trims Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Payden & Rygel cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 33.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 256,800 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 129,200 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 1.6% of Payden & Rygel's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Payden & Rygel's holdings in Walmart were worth $20,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 253.0% in the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $91.51.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $0.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.18. The stock had a trading volume of 17,348,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,843,436. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.75 and a 200-day moving average of $73.43. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $88.29. The stock has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a PE ratio of 45.33, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. Walmart's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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.