Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $92.00. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $80.30 and last traded at $80.19. 2,344,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 17,305,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.71.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WMT. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays raised their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.96.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,937. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 3,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th 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. Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 11,560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 25,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Power Corp of Canada grew its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 30,005 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,730,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $643.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.52.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.