Insider Selling: Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Sells $1,661,792.00 in Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $96.11 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.70 and its 200 day moving average is $87.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $772.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.