Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price rose 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $92.21 and last traded at $92.06. Approximately 3,807,853 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 9,576,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.80. The firm has a market cap of $735.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.