Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $78.22 and last traded at $78.60. 5,128,081 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 17,344,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.03.

Specifically, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,804,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total value of $142,840,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 605,979,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,981,442,399.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $627.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.