Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.4% – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $91.85 and last traded at $91.14. 2,315,842 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 10,690,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.69.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $733.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park National Corp OH lifted its position in Walmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 26,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $352,000. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $782,000. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.