Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.7%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price traded up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.12 and last traded at $69.08. 3,839,130 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 17,240,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.49.

Walmart Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $68.47 and its 200 day moving average is $62.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $554.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.91 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total transaction of $228,523,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total transaction of $228,523,137.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock valued at $954,455,147 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised 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 acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 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.