Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during trading on Thursday after Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $115.00. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $104.06 and last traded at $103.91. 2,315,038 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 14,602,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.61.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.85.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Walmart by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,800,743 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $142,973,000 after purchasing an additional 83,376 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares during the period. Provident Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $237,000. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.8% during the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,115 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $844.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.