Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 2% – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded down 2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $85.52 and last traded at $85.77. 8,566,314 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 15,959,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $681.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.87 and a 200-day moving average of $89.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Walmart by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860,189 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.