Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price Down 1.5% After Insider Selling

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s stock price was down 1.5% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $112.22 and last traded at $112.60. Approximately 21,355,785 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 18,831,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.36.

Specifically, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.21, for a total transaction of $460,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,031,455 shares in the company, valued at $118,833,930.55. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.91, for a total value of $1,508,193.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 733,841 shares in the company, valued at $84,325,669.31. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $166,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 641,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,039,471. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $120.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.54.

Walmart Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $897.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.37, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.64.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The company had revenue of $179.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,898,368,000 after buying an additional 3,835,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 397,264.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,496,702,000 after purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,199,712,000 after purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth about $5,367,770,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.