Walmart Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 148,425 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical volume of 117,785 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares in the company, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 326,545 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,369,000 after acquiring an additional 38,236 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 162.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 128,029 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,338,000 after purchasing an additional 79,170 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $16,228,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 151.4% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 252,282 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,372,000 after purchasing an additional 151,950 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,176,980 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $95,041,000 after purchasing an additional 110,842 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $89.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.29 and a 200-day moving average of $74.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $719.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $90.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.