Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.2%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $59.70 and last traded at $59.58. 5,750,834 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 18,507,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Europe increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $481.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $60.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.95.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,016,140 shares of company stock worth $1,695,868,391. Insiders own 46.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer's stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $3,674,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Walmart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 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.