Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $92.25 and last traded at $91.88. 14,358,861 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 16,991,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $743.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,385,186 shares of company stock valued at $963,206,365 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Trust increased its position in Walmart by 192.7% during the first quarter. American Trust now owns 10,581 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 6,966 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,204 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,340 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the second quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 25,509 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 9.6% in the second quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 6,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.