Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.20% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.18.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,521,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,662,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $680.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $85.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 253.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.