Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $88.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $88.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $80.19.

Walmart Trading Down 1.8 %

WMT opened at $79.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $642.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.26.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. 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.