Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP John R. Furner Sells 13,125 Shares

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Walmart Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $91.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $736.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.87 and a 12-month high of $96.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.81.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. 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.