UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WMT. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $92.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $744.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.43 and a 200-day moving average of $89.88. Walmart has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. 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.