Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Sells $343,800.00 in Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $85.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.04. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30. 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 company has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $336,000. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 5,007 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 845.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 518,984 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $41,908,000 after purchasing an additional 464,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.