Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $100.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $84.78 and last traded at $84.64. Approximately 3,523,622 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 16,649,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.47.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.18.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 201.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 165.4% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,255,000 after acquiring an additional 168,346 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 307.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 160,292 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,645,000 after purchasing an additional 120,919 shares during the period. Renasant Bank boosted its stake in Walmart by 194.9% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 20,619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 13,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 198.1% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 3,975,205 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $239,188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,527 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $677.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.