Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday 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 $103.36 and last traded at $103.09, with a volume of 2117898 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $102.47.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on WMT. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.82. The company has a market cap of $832.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS 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.