Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Positive Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $98.00 to $102.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WMT. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.51.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $87.18 on Wednesday. Walmart has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $88.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.43. The company has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 45.0% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after buying an additional 105,430 shares in the last quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 213.5% in the 1st quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 20,167 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. 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.