Morgan Stanley Increases Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $82.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WMT. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $78.57.

Walmart Stock Up 0.4 %

WMT stock opened at $73.45 on Friday. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $74.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock worth $725,932,010. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 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.