Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $83.00 price target on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $81.00. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.05% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Walmart Stock Up 0.3 %

WMT traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.42. 7,662,435 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,570,473. The company has a market cap of $590.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $74.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 933,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.92, for a total transaction of $60,570,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 642,016,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,679,718,386.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock worth $725,932,010. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $173,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 373,029 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $58,808,000 after purchasing an additional 139,516 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $5,888,000. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 4,220 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.