Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 1.5%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $59.06 and last traded at $59.23. Approximately 3,617,342 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 18,773,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $475.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.59.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,274,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,855,391.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,559,224 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Walmart by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.