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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 157,675 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 91% compared to the typical daily volume of 82,584 call options.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $59.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $482.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a 1-year low of $48.34 and a 1-year high of $61.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.67.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,990,016 shares of company stock worth $1,694,287,237 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,490.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

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.