Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.6% on Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.6% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $96.72 and last traded at $97.23. Approximately 4,197,543 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 17,804,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.80.

Specifically, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $2,716,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,064,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $103,252,135. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.75, for a total transaction of $387,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,092,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,695,021.25. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.77, for a total value of $166,723.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 652,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,207,148.49. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $772.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.04, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $92.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.97.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,395,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,154 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.