Jim C. Walton Sells 196,916 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 196,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.45, for a total value of $27,263,020.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 261,084,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,147,128,119.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $136.97 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.27 and a fifty-two week high of $160.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. Walmart had a return on equity of 20.45% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $164.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the retailer to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Walmart from $162.00 to $169.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Gordon Haskett raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $155.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $159.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,176,496 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,883,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,388 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 96,570,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,525,224,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712,886 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,659,193 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,867,497,000 after purchasing an additional 701,415 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,855,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,516,639,000 after purchasing an additional 313,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,919,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,908,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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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.