Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $102.00 to $103.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the retailer's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 5.45% from the company's previous close.

WMT has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on Walmart in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.35.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE WMT traded up $0.21 on Monday, reaching $97.68. The company had a trading volume of 4,572,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,438,975. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart has a 1-year low of $65.90 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company's fifty day moving average is $94.71 and its 200-day moving average is $93.92.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62,421,282. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $2,532,331,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,922,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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