Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $100.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $93.39 and last traded at $92.87. Approximately 5,550,280 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 11,591,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.80.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two 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 a consensus target price of $94.08.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth $217,000. PFG Advisors grew its holdings in Walmart by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 38,093 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after buying an additional 4,545 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 23,165 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 501,755 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,974,000 after buying an additional 8,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $320,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $90.38 and its 200 day moving average is $80.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $747.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current 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.