Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Major Shareholder Alice L. Walton Sells 455,060 Shares of Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 455,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.98, for a total transaction of $68,249,898.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 245,256,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,783,563,270.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $148.31 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $148.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.85. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.90 and a 1 year high of $154.64. The company has a market capitalization of $400.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The firm had revenue of $152.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 6.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $164.00 to $169.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.13.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 36.8% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Walmart by 31.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 123.9% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 5,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $127,749,000 after buying an additional 13,985 shares during the last quarter. 31.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.