Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded up 0.8% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $108.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $98.71 and last traded at $98.93. 5,554,474 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 14,602,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.16.

WMT has been the topic of several other reports. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.37.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $795.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.65, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.27.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share 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.