Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 0.3% on Friday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $72.00 to $73.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $68.44 and last traded at $68.24. 6,086,799 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 18,013,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.01.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp increased their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.97.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock valued at $950,549,592. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $546.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.75.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Company Profile

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.