Walmart Stock Dips on C-Suite Shakeup

Blue-chip retail stock Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) is sliding today, after reports that CEO Doug McMillon is retiring in January after more than a decade in charge. John Furner, currently CEO of Walmart U.S., will succeed him on Feb. 1. 

At last check, WMT was down 1.7% at $100.83. The shares earlier dipped low as $98.90, dropping below $100 that has been a floor since early September. Support at the 160-day moving average appears to be keeping today's pullback in check as well. Though the stock has fallen a bit since its Oct. 16 record high of $109.55, it's still up 11.6% year to date. 

Over in the options pits, 21,000 calls and 19,000 puts have been exchanged so far today. Though calls outweigh puts on an absolute basis, it's worth noting that WMT is seeing puts picked up at double the average pace. 

This marks a bearish shift in sentiment, as calls have been much more popular than usual over the last 10 weeks. WMT's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.16 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 91% of readings from the past year. 

These options are reasonably priced at the moment, per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 46%, which sits in the 15th percentile of its annual range.