UBS Group Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $69.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $63.00 to $69.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.16% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Europe raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.94.

Walmart Trading Up 1.0 %

WMT stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.44. 6,132,331 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,367,148. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average is $56.06. The company has a market cap of $487.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in 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. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 184.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. 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.