Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 target price on the retailer’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.81% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:WMT opened at $98.26 on Friday. Walmart has a twelve month low of $63.87 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $786.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,857 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,743. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,395,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. 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.