Investors Purchase High Volume of Walmart Call Options (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 137,934 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 101,923 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 106,280 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 17,172 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 14,258 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 16,194 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Walmart by 2.7% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 303,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,541,000 after acquiring an additional 7,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 141.3% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 171,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,881,000 after acquiring an additional 100,652 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $83.84 on Friday. Walmart has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $85.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.22 and its 200-day moving average is $71.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $673.93 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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.