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

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target lifted by Guggenheim from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.51.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $87.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $88.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.75 and a 200-day moving average of $73.43. The firm has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. The trade was a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 253.0% in the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.