Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 0.9% on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $98.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $91.85 and last traded at $91.65. 13,426,350 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 12,967,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.81.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.95.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $736.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.21.

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

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.