Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $96.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $93.15 and last traded at $92.89. 2,967,509 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 16,820,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.64.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.11.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock valued at $753,365,984 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.35 and its 200 day moving average is $75.04. The company has a market cap of $746.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current 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.