Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Walmart (NYSE:WMTGet Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.66% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on WMT

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $93.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.47 and its 200 day moving average is $81.79. Walmart has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $749.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % 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. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,928 shares of company stock valued at $8,978,123. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

(Get Free Report)

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.

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