BMO Capital Markets Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $100.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price upped by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $80.00 to $100.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.98.

Walmart Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $86.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $696.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $88.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 253.0% during the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.