Robert W. Baird Raises Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $100.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the retailer's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective points to a potential upside of 14.71% from the stock's current price.

WMT has been the subject of several other research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.51.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.58 on Wednesday, hitting $87.18. 18,160,547 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,843,436. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $81.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.34. The company has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $88.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.