Walmart shares (NYSE:WMT) rise 1.4% after analyst upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) shares rose 1.4% in trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $75.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an Overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $67.92 and was last at $67.84. About 2,382,705 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from its average daily volume of 17,290,266 shares. The stock previously closed at $66.91.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17. KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17. Three equities analysts have rated the stock with a “hold” rating and 28 have assigned a “buy” rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.09.

Get our latest analysis on WMT

Insider buying and selling at Walmart

In other news, Director S. Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, Director S. Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure regarding this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $954,455,147, in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s shares.

Hedge funds comment on Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently changed their holdings in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart price history

The company has a liquidity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.66. The stock has a market cap of $544.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16. The retailer reported earnings per share of $0.60 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings per share of $0.49. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter increased 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will report earnings per share of $2.43 for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Company Profile

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Walmart Inc. operates retail, wholesale, other business and e-commerce businesses worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart US, Walmart International and Sam’s Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash-and-carry stores and discount stores under the Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; members-only warehouse clubs; e-commerce websites such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other websites; and mobile commerce applications.

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