Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.49% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.08.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $93.03 on Friday. Walmart has a one year low of $53.39 and a one year high of $96.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $747.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% during the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

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.