Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shot up 0% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $85.58 and last traded at $85.52. 2,752,928 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 16,649,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.84.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $683.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third 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. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.