Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 137,934 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 101,923 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.89.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.53. The stock had a trading volume of 14,352,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,781,873. The company has a market capitalization of $671.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.08 and a 200-day moving average of $71.58. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.