Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.3% - Here's What Happened

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $94.57 and last traded at $93.87. Approximately 4,818,620 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 16,903,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.69.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $750.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.64.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 143,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,228,259 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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.