Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.5%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares traded up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $69.07 and last traded at $68.97. 1,959,680 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 17,229,650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $550.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,537,863 shares of company stock worth $954,247,577 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hudock Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 12,881 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,265 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 206.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 14,560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Walmart by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,383,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $160,748,000 after purchasing an additional 118,655 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.