Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 0.4% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $89.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $85.37 and last traded at $85.30. 2,283,633 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 11,793,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.99.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $84.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. 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 at this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $687.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current 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.