Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price dropped 0.5% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $76.49 and last traded at $76.58. Approximately 2,726,526 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 17,343,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.96.

Specifically, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $616.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.