Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 1.3% on Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was down 1.3% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $59.16 and last traded at $59.46. Approximately 3,086,475 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 18,563,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.24.

Specifically, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,565,756.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Stifel Europe upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $478.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 43.38%.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 26.6% in the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Walmart by 28.0% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 767,013 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,668,000 after buying an additional 167,800 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,480,971 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $235,608,000 after buying an additional 21,899 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 32.5% in the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,117,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $338,602,000 after purchasing an additional 518,896 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 48,468 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,751,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.