Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $90.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $90.04 and last traded at $89.99. 4,394,733 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 16,797,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.39.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $726.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.75.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

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.