Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Major Shareholder Sells $142,840,720.00 in Stock

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,804,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total transaction of $142,840,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 605,979,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,981,442,399.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

S Robson Walton also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 19th, S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00.
• On Monday, September 9th, S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.05. The stock had a trading volume of 21,515,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,435,295. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02. The company has a market capitalization of $627.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

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.