Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Now Covered by Analysts at Melius Research

Analysts at Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Melius Research’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.72% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.19.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $80.70 on Monday. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $649.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.20, for a total transaction of $895,125.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 645,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,025,828. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,360,248 shares of company stock worth $959,228,295 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.