Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.4%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose 0.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $79.18 and last traded at $79.12. Approximately 2,954,071 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 17,366,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business 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 earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on 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 owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.