Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.1% Higher

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $80.29 and last traded at $80.01. Approximately 2,596,806 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 17,409,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.19.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $640.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Walmart by 16.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares in 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.