Insider Selling: Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) EVP Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) EVP John Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,203,571.56. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.81. 16,414,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,694,551. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 46.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.81 and a fifty-two week high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 34.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, December 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,648.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,123,138,000 after purchasing an additional 11,368,549 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after purchasing an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,223,116,000 after buying an additional 5,856,468 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.