Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) shot up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $85.06 and last traded at $85.05. 5,768,096 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 15,867,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.50.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $103.20.
Read Our Latest Report on Walmart
Walmart Stock Performance
The stock has a market capitalization of $685.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $95.74 and its 200-day moving average is $88.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.
Walmart Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,293,612.80. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Walmart
(
Get Free Report)
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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