Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price traded up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $92.08 and last traded at $91.97. 6,054,865 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 13,731,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.03. The company has a market cap of $738.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Walmart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,388,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $215,820,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC now owns 7,882 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in Walmart by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 28,118 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. 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.