Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 0.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $92.44 and last traded at $91.98. 2,999,419 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 16,845,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $743.94 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.08 and a 200 day moving average of $74.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 lifted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the third 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.