Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday after Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $115.00. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $103.40 and last traded at $103.28. 3,577,656 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 14,612,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.47.

WMT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.56.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.45 and a 200-day moving average of $84.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share 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.