Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.4% Higher - Still a Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) shot up 0.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $82.04 and last traded at $81.68. 2,264,044 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 16,805,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.83.

Walmart Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $661.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,334,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,577,287. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer's stock worth $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,740,000 after acquiring an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $723,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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