Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $92.26 and last traded at $92.02. 15,705,502 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 14,296,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FCG Investment Co increased its stake in Walmart by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 35,194 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 40,497 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,659,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 26,528 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 136,850 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,364,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares during the period. Finally, Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 22,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.