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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $92.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $79.99 and last traded at $79.85. Approximately 1,960,633 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 17,243,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.61.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WMT. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.32.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after buying an additional 8,144,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $643.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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.