Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Reaches New 1-Year High at $77.69

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $77.69 and last traded at $77.68, with a volume of 794827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.64.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $620.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $70.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.93.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,306,511 shares of company stock valued at $420,470,807. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer's stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Hedge funds and other 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.