Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Raised to Buy at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $89.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $76.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $80.19.

Walmart Trading Down 1.8 %

WMT stock opened at $79.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $642.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.26. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.