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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price shot up 1% during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $89.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $85.25 and last traded at $85.01. 2,422,683 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 16,682,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.21.

WMT has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $84.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $723,000. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 159.0% during the first quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 263,650 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,864,000 after purchasing an additional 161,846 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 45.0% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after purchasing an additional 105,430 shares during the period. Finally, Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 213.5% in the 1st quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 20,167 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $683.73 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.27.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 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.