Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 1.8% on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $90.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $90.04 and last traded at $89.99. 4,394,733 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 16,797,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.39.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.75. The stock has a market cap of $726.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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.