Walton heirs sell $255.762 million of Wal-Mart stock 

The Walton heirs sold $255.762 million in Wal-Mart stock in recent days to keep the family’s ownership of the retail giant at roughly 50%.

Last year the Walton family announced it would pair down its share holdings each year as they crept above 50% of the company’s outstanding stock. The company’s fairly aggressive share repurchase program this past year raised the Walton family’s ownership stake..

Form 4 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Tuesday (Aug. 23) indicate three stock dispositions were made from the Walton Family Holding Trust between Aug. 19-22.

Filings were made for each of the Walton Family Trust heirs – Rob, Alice and Jim Walton, the children of Walmart founders Helen and Sam Walton. The total share liquidation involved 3,502,308 million shares leaving the family trust with 169,610,807 shares worth an estimated $12.207 billion remaining.

The heirs received an average price of $73 per share in the three transactions.

Wal-Mart Stores shares (NYSE: WMT) closed Tuesday at $71.97, down 1%. For the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a low of $56.42 to a $74.30 high.