Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $79.85 and last traded at $80.26. 1,816,405 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 17,375,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.43.

Specifically, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares in the company, valued at $49,123,611.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

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 company has a fifty day moving average of $75.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.16. The company has a market cap of $650.62 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the first quarter worth about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 26.76% of the stock is 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.