Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 1.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $86.63 and last traded at $86.55. 6,808,691 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 16,873,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $711.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Modus Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during the first quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 11,651 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $1,711,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $273,000. M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $701,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $6,679,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.