Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 4.2% on Strong Earnings

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 4.2% on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $88.29 and last traded at $87.57. 17,300,377 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 16,738,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.08.

The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.98.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $696.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.58 and a 200 day moving average of $73.34.

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.