Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) were up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday 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 $84.85 and last traded at $84.50. Approximately 3,568,724 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 16,652,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.25.

WMT has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 253.0% in the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 0.5 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.98. The stock has a market cap of $680.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 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.