Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.96% from the stock’s current price.

WMT has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Europe lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Walmart Trading Down 1.4 %

WMT traded down $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.15. 19,506,970 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,336,518. The firm has a market capitalization of $476.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.38 and a 200 day moving average of $54.98. Walmart has a 12-month low of $48.34 and a 12-month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,274,475 shares in the company, valued at $228,855,391.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,559,224. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 112,181.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after acquiring an additional 22,834,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.