Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.1% Higher

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) rose 0.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $59.67 and last traded at $59.32. Approximately 4,260,540 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 18,892,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Europe upped their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.54.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $479.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Walmart's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,274,475 shares in the company, valued at $228,855,391.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224 over the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 26.6% during the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,398,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Walmart by 28.0% during the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 767,013 shares of the retailer's stock worth $122,668,000 after buying an additional 167,800 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,480,971 shares of the retailer's stock worth $235,608,000 after purchasing an additional 21,899 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Walmart by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 346,705 shares of the retailer's stock worth $55,423,000 after purchasing an additional 118,267 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 4,630 shares of the retailer's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.