Erste Group Bank Upgrades Walmart (NYSE:WMT) to Buy

Key Points

• Walmart's rating has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" by Erste Group Bank, reflecting increased confidence in the company's stock performance.
• Multiple analysts have set target price increases for Walmart, with Oppenheimer raising theirs to $110.00 and Mizuho targeting $115.00.
• Walmart reported earnings of $0.61 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and achieving a revenue of $165.61 billion.

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.77. The stock had a trading volume of 12,392,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,092,373. Walmart has a 1 year low of $67.14 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.29. The company has a market capitalization of $828.13 billion, a PE ratio of 44.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $2,716,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,112 shares of company stock worth $14,080,073. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,395,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,154 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 397,264.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,496,702,000 after purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,199,712,000 after purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.