Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 4.2% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $88.29 and last traded at $87.57. 17,300,377 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 16,738,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.08.

The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.98.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 21.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,400,000 after buying an additional 105,430 shares during the last quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 213.5% during the first quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 20,167 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Up 3.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.34. The firm has a market cap of $696.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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.