Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded up 0.7% during trading on Monday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $90.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $80.39 and last traded at $80.35. 2,325,413 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 17,380,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.78.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,292,421 shares of company stock worth $954,612,818 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 3,377 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Amussen Hunsaker Associates LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Amussen Hunsaker Associates LLC now owns 15,979 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,519,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,166 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 11,560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $645.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company 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%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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.