Guggenheim Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $81.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target increased by Guggenheim from $75.00 to $81.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $78.57.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $73.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $68.86 and its 200 day moving average is $63.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $74.44. The stock has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at $277,589,163.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock worth $725,932,010. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.3% in the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.