Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 2.4% - Should You Sell?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) was down 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $95.18 and last traded at $95.25. Approximately 6,854,706 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 15,488,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Down 3.1 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.19 and a 200 day moving average of $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $736.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.