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

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $78.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $89.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $719.02 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $90.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Walmart by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 326,545 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,369,000 after purchasing an additional 38,236 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 162.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 128,029 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,338,000 after buying an additional 79,170 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,228,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 151.4% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 252,282 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,372,000 after purchasing an additional 151,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 10.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,176,980 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $95,041,000 after purchasing an additional 110,842 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.