Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.1% on Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $92.24 and last traded at $92.38. 4,506,065 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 16,824,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.50.

Specifically, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,207,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 579,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,352,180. This represents a 2.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $744.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.35 and a 200 day moving average of $75.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.