Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.3% Following Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares fell 0.3% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $97.94 and last traded at $98.28. 4,666,199 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 17,475,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.61.

Specifically, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,293,612.80. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $783.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.