Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.8% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 0.8% on Wednesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $100.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $95.39 and last traded at $95.34. 2,438,394 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 16,856,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.55.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Walmart from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The trade was a 0.06 % 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 worth $257,591,179 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $765.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.54.

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

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.