Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares rose 0.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $91.93 and last traded at $90.95. Approximately 5,839,148 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 17,534,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Walmart Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $744.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.88.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Walmart by 38.2% in the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,085 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. CMC Financial Group bought a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.9% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 29,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,582,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 920,235 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $80,787,000 after acquiring an additional 47,186 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 52,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.