Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot 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 changed hands 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.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at $44,648,499. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $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 Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $641.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.44 and a 200-day moving average of $67.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS 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.