Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Barclays from $98.00 to $108.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.61% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.17.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,669,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,609,380. 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 has a 12 month low of $55.99 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $837.38 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 479.6% during 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 during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.