Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Given New $69.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $63.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.43% from the stock’s previous close.

WMT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Europe increased their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.94.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $60.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.12. Walmart has a 12-month low of $48.34 and a 12-month high of $61.65.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after buying an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Walmart by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Walmart

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.