UBS Group Increases Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $69.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $63.00 to $69.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $60.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $485.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.12. Walmart has a twelve month low of $48.34 and a twelve month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.