TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target increased by analysts at TD Cowen from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.00% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.08.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,726,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,779,283. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $88.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $692.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.