Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $108.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $99.79 and last traded at $99.60, with a volume of 20444863 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.16.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WMT. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $810.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 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.