Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares rose 0.8% on Wednesday after Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $115.00. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $103.40 and last traded at $103.28. Approximately 3,577,656 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 14,612,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.47.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,207,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 579,915 shares in the company, valued at $53,352,180. This trade represents a 2.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $844.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

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.