Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price rose 0.8% during trading on Wednesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $100.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $95.39 and last traded at $95.34. Approximately 2,438,394 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 16,856,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.55.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.40.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,309,091 shares of company stock valued at $183,375,539 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $85.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.49. The firm has a market cap of $763.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share 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.