Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $96.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $93.74 and last traded at $93.70. 3,723,721 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 16,826,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.51.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WMT. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,300,460 shares of company stock worth $570,820,065 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. CAP Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $759.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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