Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Bank of America from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.89% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.49.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $88.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $88.64. The company has a market cap of $709.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for 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%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.