Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $111.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $95.90 and last traded at $95.87. 3,528,085 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 16,866,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.42.

WMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Walmart from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.69.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,228,259 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.27 and a 200-day moving average of $77.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $750.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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