Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WMT. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Melius Research began coverage on Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.08.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $93.03 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $747.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a twelve month low of $53.39 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.45.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 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.