Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Sets New 12-Month High at $75.46

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $75.46 and last traded at $75.22, with a volume of 1842705 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.64.

Walmart Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $608.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.31, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,562,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $101,545,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 642,949,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,791,724,715. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,827,328 shares of company stock valued at $584,261,549 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,159.6% in the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 361,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,057,000 after acquiring an additional 333,187 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,757 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,065,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,000. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 20,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,232,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 4,600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 2,500 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.