Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Down 1.4% – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $94.31 and last traded at $94.34. Approximately 5,469,486 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 16,866,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.11.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.08. The company has a market cap of $754.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The trade was a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,243,091 shares of company stock valued at $257,591,179 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Walmart by 16.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during 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.