Goldman Sachs Group raises price target for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) to $81.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) The price target was raised by equity analysts at Goldman Sachs Group from $73.00 to $81.00 in a note to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would imply a potential upside of 10.28% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WMT. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 27. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, 26 have given a buy recommendation and one has given the company a strong buy recommendation. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.79.

Get our latest analysis on WMT

Walmart price history

NYSE WMT opened at $73.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $74.44. The stock has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.86 and its 200-day moving average is $63.37.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15. The retailer reported earnings per share of $0.67 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company’s revenue grew by 4.7% year over year. During the same period last year, the company generated earnings per share of $0.61. As a group, research analysts expect Walmart to report earnings per share of $2.43 for the current year.

Insider transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock on Thursday, May 23. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the company’s stock on Monday, July 15. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that took place on Thursday, May 23. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure regarding this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $725,932,010. 45.58% of the shares are currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional inflows and outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the same period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart shares by 183.0% in 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 same period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart shares in the fourth quarter valued at around $3,674,652,000. 26.76% of the shares are currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get free report)

Walmart Inc. operates retail, wholesale, other business and e-commerce businesses worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart US, Walmart International and Sam’s Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash-and-carry stores and discount stores under the Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; members-only warehouse clubs; e-commerce websites such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other websites; and mobile commerce applications.

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