Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.7%

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s stock price rose 1.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $69.12 and last traded at $69.08. Approximately 3,839,130 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 17,240,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.49.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $554.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,455,147. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after buying an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.