Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 0.1% on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $98.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $80.29 and last traded at $80.01. 2,596,806 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 17,409,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.92.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.96.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its position in Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $641.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.44 and its 200-day moving average is $67.52.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.