Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price rose 0.3% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $90.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $82.53 and last traded at $82.16. Approximately 2,996,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 16,802,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.95.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,334,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,577,287. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is 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 capitalization of $660.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.94.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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.