Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price fell 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $90.06 and last traded at $90.35. 11,259,819 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 16,991,166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $723.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.