Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $92.25 and last traded at $91.88. 14,358,861 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 16,991,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $738.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.48.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.