Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target Raised to $90.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WMT. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $76.64 on Wednesday. Walmart has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $77.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $616.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock worth $730,497,016. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.