Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 0.3% Following Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded down 0.3% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $80.81 and last traded at $80.94. 1,551,255 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 17,118,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.22.

Specifically, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.96.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.54. The stock has a market cap of $654.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after buying an additional 8,144,393 shares in 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.