Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $74.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $70.60 and last traded at $70.39. 2,445,146 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 17,438,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.99.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $566.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 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.