UBS Group Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $92.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $81.00 to $92.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $82.32.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $80.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.93. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $644.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,335,272 shares of company stock valued at $958,101,276 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.