Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $92.21 and last traded at $92.06. 3,807,853 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 9,576,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $736.26 billion, a PE ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 4.47 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.