Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 1.5% Following Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were down 1.5% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $67.10 and last traded at $67.45. Approximately 6,097,679 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 17,300,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.46.

Specifically, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total transaction of $228,523,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 648,504,011 shares in the company, valued at $41,860,933,910.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares in the company, valued at $41,860,933,910.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,455,147. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.09.

Walmart Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $538.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital raised its stake in Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,014 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 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.