John D. Rainey Sells 2,200 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total transaction of $214,214.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,607,751.66. This represents a 0.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $98.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.44 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.65. The company has a market cap of $788.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 17.5% in the first quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 17,856 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 2,662 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 8,409 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hedeker Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,852,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 98.4% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 263,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $23,173,000 after purchasing an additional 130,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.45.

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.