Daniel J. Bartlett Sells 1,600 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded down $6.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $97.22. The stock had a trading volume of 55,346,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,369,394. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This is a boost from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 75,100 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,785,000 after buying an additional 2,897 shares during the period. Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $285,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,309,000. Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $533,000. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $1,326,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

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.