Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target Raised to $98.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.95.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

WMT stock opened at $91.65 on Thursday. Walmart has a 1-year low of $52.58 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $736.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 127,329 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,504,000 after buying an additional 3,741 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 23,611 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. InvesTrust bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $1,240,000. Private Client Services LLC increased its position in Walmart by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 7,909 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 26,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.