Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.2%

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $78.43 and last traded at $78.26. 3,204,385 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 17,354,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.62. The company has a market cap of $630.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 40,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.79, for a total value of $2,736,653.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 635,512,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,445,890,427.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 40,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.79, for a total transaction of $2,736,653.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 635,512,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,445,890,427.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,510,437 shares of company stock valued at $487,759,176 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.