Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 1.4% - Time to Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) rose 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $91.87 and last traded at $90.82. Approximately 8,946,967 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 17,469,999 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $92.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. 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.