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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 148,425 call options on the company. This is an increase of 26% compared to the average daily volume of 117,785 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position 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 lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 165.4% during the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after acquiring an additional 168,346 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 180.7% during the first 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. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $89.32. 7,966,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,844,219. Walmart has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $90.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $717.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.