Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 1.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $88.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $85.13 and last traded at $85.02. Approximately 2,864,450 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 16,724,674 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.85.

WMT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its position in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 290.7% in the first 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. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter valued at $723,000. Finally, Meridian Management Co. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 200.2% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 140,880 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,477,000 after acquiring an additional 93,955 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.67. The company has a market capitalization of $683.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.