Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $108.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $99.79 and last traded at $99.60, with a volume of 20444863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.16.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.27. The firm has a market cap of $800.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 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.