Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $86.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $81.75 and last traded at $81.38. Approximately 4,087,105 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 17,178,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.29.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,589,163.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,335,272 shares of company stock valued at $958,101,276. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 186.3% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 25,442 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 16,554 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 850,171 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,155,000 after purchasing an additional 417,568 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.8% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 55,401 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,333,000 after purchasing an additional 35,739 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 277.8% during the 1st quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $657.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 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.