Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.1%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 0.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $59.33 and last traded at $59.14. 2,794,344 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 18,762,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $485.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,990,016 shares of company stock valued at $1,694,287,237 in the last ninety days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.