Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 1.1% Higher

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $77.47 and last traded at $77.23. Approximately 23,229,900 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 33% from the average daily volume of 17,417,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.64.

Walmart Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $621.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

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

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 640,532,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 640,532,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,306,511 shares of company stock worth $420,470,807. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer's stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in 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 valued at $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.