Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price traded down 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $94.31 and last traded at $94.34. 5,469,486 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 16,866,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.27.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.28. The company has a market cap of $759.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $74,215,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,537,610,048.28. This trade represents a 0.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,243,091 shares of company stock worth $257,591,179 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.