Insider Selling: Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Major Shareholder Sells $68,249,898.80 in Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 455,060 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.98, for a total value of $68,249,898.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 245,256,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,783,563,270.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Walmart Stock Down 1.0 %

WMT stock opened at $146.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $394.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.72 and a 200 day moving average of $145.87. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.90 and a twelve month high of $154.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $152.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.91 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 1.82%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Empower Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth $120,222,000. Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 5,726 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $1,382,000. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 12,822 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walmart from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $160.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Friday, May 19th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Walmart from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Walmart from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, May 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.13.

Walmart Company Profile

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.