Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 1.4% on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $88.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $85.13 and last traded at $85.02. Approximately 2,864,450 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 16,724,674 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.85.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WMT. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.67. The firm has a market cap of $683.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.51.

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