Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.3%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price rose 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $60.29 and last traded at $60.13. Approximately 2,973,726 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 19,086,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.54.

Walmart Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $480.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.45 and a 200-day moving average of $55.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors 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 yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,274,475 shares in the company, valued at $228,855,391.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,274,475 shares in the company, valued at $228,855,391.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,613,179.38. 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 three months. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $127,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,985 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.