Wal-Mart shares gain a fourth straight session on Thursday, company’s Chief Executive receives $22.4 million as compensation

According to an April 20th regulatory filing, total compensation for Doug McMillon, Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT), rose 13% to $22.4 million during the fiscal year ended on January 31st amid strong sales growth.

Wal-Mart shares closed higher for a fourth straight trading session on Thursday, while also marking their largest daily gain since April 7th. The stock went up 0.99% ($0.73) to $74.80, after touching an intraday high at $75.11, or a price level not seen since August 18th 2016 ($75.19). In the week ended on April 16th the shares of the retail chain added 0.34% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a third consecutive period of gains, but yet, the smallest increase since the week ended on March 12th. The stock has extended its advance to 3.77% so far during the current month, following a 1.62% surge in March. The latter has been a second straight month of gains. For the entire past year, Wal-Mart shares gained 12.76%.

McMillons compensation, including cash and stock, had been $19.8 million during the prior fiscal year, the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed.

At the same time, Greg Foran, the head of Wal-Marts US business, received $11.55 million as a total compensation during the fiscal year ended on January 31st, following $11.54 million a year earlier.

The retailers operating income shrank 5.6% to $22.8 billion during the fiscal year ended on January 31st, following an 11% slump in the previous year. However, total sales grew 0.8% to $485.9 billion during the same period. The companys sales at existing stores, excluding fuel, went up 1.3% during the past fiscal year, while investments in wages and training have improved customer service at over 5 000 stores in the United States.

According to CNN Money, the 31 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Wal-Mart’s stock price, have a median target of $73.00, with a high estimate of $90.00 and a low estimate of $60.00. The median estimate is a 2.41% decrease compared to the closing price of $74.80 on April 20th.

The same media also reported that 19 out of 36 surveyed investment analysts had rated Wal-Mart Stores’ stock as “Hold”, while 13 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 3 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Wal-Mart stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $74.89
R2 – $74.98
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $75.08
R4 (Long Breakout) – $75.35
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $75.67
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $75.81

S1 – $74.71
S2 – $74.62
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $74.53
S4 (Short Breakout) – $74.25
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $73.93
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $73.79

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $73.24
R1 – $73.74
R2 – $74.34
R3 – $74.84
R4 – $75.35

S1 – $72.64
S2 – $72.14
S3 – $71.54
S4 – $70.95