KeyCorp Increases Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $96.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective upped by KeyCorp from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $90.44 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $726.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.84. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $90.91.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business 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 firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 201.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 165.4% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares in the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 186.8% during the 1st quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 7,958 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its position in Walmart by 211.0% during the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,710,257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $102,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 96.7% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 921,820 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,466,000 after buying an additional 453,101 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

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.