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

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

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.08.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

WMT opened at $93.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $747.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart has a 12 month low of $53.39 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.63.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.