Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Reaches New 1-Year High at $76.45

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $76.45 and last traded at $76.13, with a volume of 887898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.64.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $612.92 billion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 933,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.92, for a total value of $60,570,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 642,016,611 shares in the company, valued at $41,679,718,386.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,265,089 shares of company stock valued at $482,716,014. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.