Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded down 0.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $59.14 and last traded at $59.34. 2,690,783 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 18,464,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.71.

Specifically, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $482.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.06 and its 200 day moving average is $55.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 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.