Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $87.08 and last traded at $86.79. Approximately 3,711,678 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 15,840,005 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.95. The stock has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

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 stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 118,663 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 387,540 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,294,000 after purchasing an additional 4,128 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.