Barclays Increases Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $98.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.08.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $93.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $747.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 12 month low of $53.39 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 119,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 58.5% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,901,459 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $196,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,943 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Walmart by 31.0% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 39,517 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,347 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in Walmart by 4.0% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 856,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,987,000 after acquiring an additional 32,880 shares during the period. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter worth $217,000. Hedge funds and other 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.