Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares rose 0.7% 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 $100.31 and last traded at $100.21. Approximately 3,528,810 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 14,780,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.54.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.37.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $805.33 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.27.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 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.