Walmart's (WMT) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Roth Mkm

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at Roth Mkm in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $108.00 price target on the retailer's stock, up from their prior price target of $97.00. Roth Mkm's price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.04% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.43.

Walmart Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of WMT stock traded down $2.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.70. 34,962,340 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,282,283. Walmart has a 1 year low of $57.77 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $95.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1,007.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.