Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.4% during trading on Thursday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $88.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $84.34 and last traded at $83.76. Approximately 2,203,100 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 16,740,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.44.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. 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 $958,823,647 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 201.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart by 165.4% during the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth $572,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 200.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 32,284 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,943,000 after buying an additional 21,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Walmart by 85.1% during the first quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 117,239 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,054,000 after buying an additional 53,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $682.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.53 and its 200-day moving average is $71.92.

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

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.