Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 1% on Thursday after Roth Mkm raised their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $97.00. Roth Mkm currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $88.26 and last traded at $88.01. 4,785,632 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 16,790,182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.18.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.49.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart 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 sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $709.94 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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.