Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Hits New 12-Month High at $70.23

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $70.23 and last traded at $70.21, with a volume of 1677070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $65.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.34. The company has a market cap of $566.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock valued at $953,023,399. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,595,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,281,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 136,494 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,829,000 after purchasing an additional 36,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,751 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.