Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 1.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price shot up 1.2% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $100.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $93.39 and last traded at $92.87. 5,550,280 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 11,591,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.80.

Several other research firms have also commented on WMT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 119,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,901,459 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $196,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,943 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in Walmart by 31.0% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 39,517 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,347 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Walmart by 4.0% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 856,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,987,000 after purchasing an additional 32,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $217,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $746.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.29.

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