Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 0.5%

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) dropped 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $76.78 and last traded at $76.85. Approximately 2,489,047 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 17,363,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $71.27 and its 200-day moving average is $65.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $619.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,960,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,394,237 shares of company stock valued at $813,134,516 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at $72,188,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at $1,708,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at about $829,000. SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.8% during the second quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 19,150 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 516,256 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $34,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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.