Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 1.5% on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $63.00 to $69.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $60.80 and last traded at $60.77. Approximately 4,379,830 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 18,347,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.87.

WMT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Europe boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last quarter. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.5 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $485.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

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.