Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose 1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $78.86 and last traded at $78.80. Approximately 5,673,044 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 17,370,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

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’s fifty day moving average is $73.24 and its 200-day moving average is $66.65. The stock has a market cap of $633.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 24.2% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 110,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,452,000 after purchasing an additional 21,478 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 15,205 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 4,835 shares during the period. American Trust boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 10,833 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 36.0% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,140 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 162.2% during the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,295 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 6,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.