Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 1.5% Following Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $91.31 and last traded at $91.40. 2,627,537 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 17,006,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.79.

Specifically, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $736.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 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.