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

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Guggenheim from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the retailer's stock.

WMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $91.51.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.18. The stock had a trading volume of 17,348,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,843,436. The company's 50-day moving average is $81.75 and its 200 day moving average is $73.43. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $88.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $700.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 201.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 165.4% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer's stock worth $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares during the period. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 186.8% during the first quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,218 shares of the retailer's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 7,958 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 211.0% during the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,710,257 shares of the retailer's stock worth $102,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,354 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis increased its stake in Walmart by 96.7% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 921,820 shares of the retailer's stock worth $55,466,000 after purchasing an additional 453,101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.