Walmart’s (WMT) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $105.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMT. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted 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, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WMT opened at $92.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a twelve month low of $53.44 and a twelve month high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.