Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) rose 0.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $60.29 and last traded at $60.13. Approximately 2,973,726 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 19,086,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.54.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $482.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 1.39%. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224 over the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 17,470 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 11,407 shares during the period. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 200.1% during the first quarter. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV now owns 3,832 shares of the retailer's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 201.2% during the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 147,449 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,872,000 after buying an additional 98,500 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VA boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.8% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA now owns 36,960 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,224,000 after buying an additional 24,633 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 211.4% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 45,281 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,725,000 after buying an additional 30,741 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is 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.