Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.4% Higher

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.55 and last traded at $60.31. 2,298,870 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 18,206,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Europe raised their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

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 capitalization of $487.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.15.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 184.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $756,188,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

About Walmart

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.

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