Walmart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 142,511 put options on the company. This is an increase of 34% compared to the typical volume of 106,575 put options.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $79.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.57. Walmart has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $81.02. The company has a market capitalization of $635.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,205,423 shares of company stock valued at $788,845,411. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during 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 raised its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Walmart by 187.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

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.