Walmart’s (WMT) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $115.00 price target on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $106.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.76% from the company’s current price.

WMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.85.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WMT traded up $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $103.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,019,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,662,468. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.95. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $104.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $834.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. 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 acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. 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.