Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $92.94 and last traded at $92.84. Approximately 4,021,362 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 14,504,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.95. The stock has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,928 shares of company stock valued at $8,978,123 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.