Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 1.5% After Insider Selling

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded down 1.5% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $95.12 and last traded at $95.78. 10,845,730 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 16,160,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.21.

Specifically, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 34.02%.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whelan Financial raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 4,339 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is 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.