Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $85.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $81.44 and last traded at $81.10. Approximately 2,195,765 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 17,024,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.81.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.51.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total transaction of $926,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,443,000. McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,942 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the last quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, Courier Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 358.1% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 90,403 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,300,000 after purchasing an additional 70,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $659.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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.