Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $80.66 and last traded at $80.76. Approximately 2,457,957 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 17,085,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.96.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $653.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,787,946.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,787,946.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $1,211,000. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 49.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,157 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Schubert & Co purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $225,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after purchasing an additional 484,196 shares during the period. Finally, Slow Capital Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 2.3% during the third quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 72,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.