Walmart (NYSE:WMT) PT Raised to $78.00 at Evercore ISI

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.27% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WMT. Citigroup raised their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.68.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,297,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,555,613. 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 stock has a market cap of $590.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.19. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $74.44.

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

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock valued at $725,932,010 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,812,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 40,993 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Granite FO LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter worth about $561,000. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 37,342 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,528,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the second quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 28,052 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.