Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 2% - Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $86.97 and last traded at $85.50. 7,814,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 17,227,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $744.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.88.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its position in Walmart by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,085 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. CMC Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 29,406 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,582,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 920,235 shares of the retailer's stock worth $80,787,000 after buying an additional 47,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Walmart by 0.4% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 52,056 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,570,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.