Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Key Points

• Unusually high bullish options activity: Investors purchased 267,098 Walmart call options, roughly 99% above the average daily volume of 134,432.
• Walmart shares traded at $106.74 after rising $1.67, remaining below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 5.9% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Walmart has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $131.74 average price target, although insiders sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans during the quarter.

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 267,098 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 99% compared to the average daily volume of 134,432 call options.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.74. The stock had a trading volume of 8,186,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,240,744. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Walmart has a 12 month low of $98.88 and a 12 month high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $846.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50-day moving average is $108.67 and its 200 day moving average is $116.75.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%.The business had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Walmart to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $126.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total transaction of $1,399,912.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 647,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total transaction of $416,595.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 618,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,562,863.19. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 81,219 shares of company stock valued at $8,604,429. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,036,646 shares of the retailer's stock worth $21,297,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,781 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,455,131,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,820,550 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,102,546,000 after purchasing an additional 920,969 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,142,040 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,497,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth $2,905,655,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc NASDAQ: WMT is a multinational retailer that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and wellness products, household essentials and general merchandise. Walmart also provides services such as grocery pickup and delivery, pharmacy services, financial products and digital advertising.

The company serves customers through its Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam's Club segments.

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