Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 140,512 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the typical volume of 108,346 call options.

Walmart Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WMT opened at $79.78 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.60. The stock has a market cap of $641.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.