Telsey Advisory Group Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $75.00 target price on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.38% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WMT. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.09.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.29 on Friday, reaching $67.95. 13,805,576 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,333,506. The firm has a market cap of $546.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.82. Walmart has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $71.33.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,455,147. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its stake in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.