Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, KeyCorp Analyst Says

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.57.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in 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.