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

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $616.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position 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 buying an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Institutional investors 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.