Walmart's 3-for-1 stock split goes into effect

Madison Mills and Seana Smith
In this article:

Investors are keeping an eye on shares of Walmart (WMT) after the retailer enacted a 3-for-1 stock split on Friday after the market close. People who own Walmart will now have more shares than they did last week, while people who are looking to buy the stock can now get it at a lower price.

Yahoo Finance's Madison Mills reports on the split.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Stephanie Mikulich

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: Time for today's stock to watch, and that is Walmart. 3-for-1 stock split going into effect today after closing at 175.56 on Friday. Now, pre-market trading accounting for the stock split with the retail giant trading just around 59 here in pre-market activity. Yahoo Finance's Madison Mills is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the breakdown. Madison.

MADISON MILLS: Yeah, Seana. So folks here at NYSE reminding me and our viewers to not spit out your coffee when you see that Walmart is trading near 60 bucks a share heading into the market open coming up in about 15 minutes here. That lowered share price is going to be due to exactly what you mentioned, that 3-for-1 stock split.

And this comes as the CEO was saying on the earnings call that it was important to the Walton's family always that the stock was accessible for employees. Remember that Walmart is the largest employer in the US and certainly the largest brick and mortar retailer as well. So that's part of the reason that's driving this stock split.

It's also another one of the companies this earnings cycle upping their dividends-- the 9% hike. So you're going to get about $0.83 annually for that dividend-- a big payout there. But certainly bigger if you are one of those employees participating in this stock program that Walmart offers its employees, which also includes a match from Walmart, the company as well.

The reason this is our stock to watch, though, and what I want to point out to our audience is if you look at the Yahoo Finance platform right now on YF+, you can see that this stock is trading near the top of the 52-week range, but just at the bottom of the day's range. So I'm curious to see what happens heading into the market open, if some of those orders that folks put in to be able to get in on this stock once it's a little bit lower are going to up the stock price. We'll see coming up in about 15 minutes here.

BRAD SMITH: All right, Maddie. Thanks so much. Taking a look at shares of WMT going into the opening cross just about as you mentioned 14, 15 minutes away from right now. We'll check back in Maddie.