Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded up 1.3% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $88.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $80.17 and last traded at $80.08. 2,490,380 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 17,474,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.06.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% during the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average of $66.87. The firm has a market cap of $644.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 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.