Investors Purchase Large Volume of Walmart Call Options (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 245,424 call options on the company. This is an increase of 82% compared to the typical daily volume of 134,801 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,804,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total value of $142,840,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 605,979,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,981,442,399.24. This represents a 0.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,309,091 shares of company stock valued at $183,375,539. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.40.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year high of $96.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $756.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Company Profile

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.