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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 148,425 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 26% compared to the typical daily volume of 117,785 call options.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $733.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $91.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 201.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Walmart by 165.4% in the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after buying an additional 168,346 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Walmart by 156.9% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 968,579 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $58,279,000 after purchasing an additional 591,611 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 180.7% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,833 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 60,408 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. UBS Group upped their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

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.