Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 0.2%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $60.04 and last traded at $60.08. Approximately 2,240,276 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 18,757,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,990,016 shares of company stock worth $1,694,287,237. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 worth $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.

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.