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

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective upped by KeyCorp from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

WMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.51.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $87.18 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.75 and its 200 day moving average is $73.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $88.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 201.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Dupont Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 165.4% in the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,255,000 after acquiring an additional 168,346 shares in the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,958 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 211.0% during the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,710,257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $102,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 96.7% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 921,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $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.