Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 0.6%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $60.18 and last traded at $60.23. 2,232,999 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 19,410,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Europe boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $484.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.31.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,559,224. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Walmart by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Walmart by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 5,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $127,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,985 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, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.