Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price rose 1.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $94.76 and last traded at $94.94. Approximately 3,574,030 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 14,491,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $760.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.95.

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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,928 shares of company stock worth $8,978,123 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during 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 period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.