Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Tigress Financial raised their price target on the stock from $86.00 to $115.00. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $94.52 and last traded at $94.29. 2,534,241 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 16,858,213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.88.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,309,091 shares of company stock worth $183,375,539 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $757.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.74.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share 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.