Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) dropped 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $91.63 and last traded at $93.22. Approximately 9,019,381 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 16,915,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $748.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $87.27 and a 200 day moving average of $77.75.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total value of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares in the company, valued at $49,123,611.60. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,228,259. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.