Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 0.3% during trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $92.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $79.99 and last traded at $79.85. 1,960,633 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 17,243,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.61.

WMT has been the topic of several other research reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,800,743 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $142,973,000 after purchasing an additional 83,376 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,230 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.9% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 18,693 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 48.2% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,842 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 5,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 29.0% during the third quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 8,136 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.88. The stock has a market cap of $643.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 3.99 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts predict 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.