Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.1%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.70 and last traded at $60.21. Approximately 2,098,307 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 19,192,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $482.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's fifty day moving average is $59.25 and its 200-day moving average is $55.33.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. 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 three months. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 112,181.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,834,564 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $553,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,279,324 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,935,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,887,002 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.