Insider Selling: Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $85.78. 18,143,728 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,895,378. The company has a market capitalization of $687.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.92.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $701,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,679,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $400,000. Triton Wealth Management PLLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 27,469 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Finally, 111 Capital acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,844,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.17.

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.