Insider Selling: Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Sells 25,578 Shares of Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $68.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $548.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $69.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 stake 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 buying an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.