GraniteShares Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,686 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,651 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,476,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,561 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,104,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. WJ Interests LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 3,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 33.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.40, for a total transaction of $1,576,579.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,461,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,349,061.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $161,370.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares in the company, valued at $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,166 shares of company stock worth $5,066,701. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $168.50 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.09 and a twelve month high of $169.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The business had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $159.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.36.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.