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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $85.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $82.77 and last traded at $82.77, with a volume of 1862309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.02.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. 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 $958,267,901. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5 %

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 company has a fifty day moving average of $78.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $663.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

About Walmart

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.