BMO Capital Markets Boosts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $80.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James raised their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $69.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.87. Walmart has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $71.33.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,386,389.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock valued at $954,424,817 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $923,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 5,308 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $526,000. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 7,707 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Walmart by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.