Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $90.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $90.96 and last traded at $90.96, with a volume of 110507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.44.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WMT. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,298,000 after buying an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 21.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after acquiring an additional 105,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,397 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $719.02 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $82.29 and its 200 day moving average is $74.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current 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.