Walmart Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 157,675 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 91% compared to the typical daily volume of 82,584 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Europe boosted their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded down $1.06 on Tuesday, reaching $59.08. The stock had a trading volume of 17,950,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,971,049. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $476.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.69 and a 200-day moving average of $55.64.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.30, for a total value of $712,687.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 780,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,393,421.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,490.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.