Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $77.35 and last traded at $77.17. Approximately 5,397,590 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 17,337,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $633.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.76.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,513,707 shares of company stock valued at $797,374,003 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.