Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $85.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $82.84 and last traded at $82.50. Approximately 2,404,993 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 17,002,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.02.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMT. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 237.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 19,297 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 13,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 228.0% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,648 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 160.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 21,537 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 13,269 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 13,976 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 9,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 186.3% during the 1st quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,964 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,532 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $663.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.42 and its 200 day moving average is $69.99.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS 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.