Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $71.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $69.00 to $71.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.47.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $68.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $548.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.71. Walmart has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $3,674,652,000. 26.76% of the stock is 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.