Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, The Fly reports.
Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Vetr upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.71 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a report on Sunday, September 17th. Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wal-Mart Stores from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Wal-Mart Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.23.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,012,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,954,699. Wal-Mart Stores has a one year low of $65.28 and a one year high of $100.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $290,017.22, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.37.
Wal-Mart Stores announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the retailer to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Wal-Mart Stores news, Director S Robson Walton sold 826,617 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $79,677,612.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,345,065 shares in the company, valued at $322,430,815.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 684 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.29, for a total transaction of $67,914.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,421,174 shares of company stock worth $1,366,398,832 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 45.3% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,982,372 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,906,000 after acquiring an additional 5,608,785 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 42.6% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,745,493 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $434,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,422 shares during the period. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 52.9% during the second quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 4,883,390 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,364 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 100.2% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,646,589 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $200,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,722 shares during the period. Finally, Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 128.7% during the third quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 2,058,798 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $160,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,519 shares during the period. 30.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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About Wal-Mart Stores
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc is engaged in the operation of retail, wholesale and other units in various formats around the world. The Company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment includes its mass merchant concept in the United States operating under the Walmart or Wal-Mart brands, as well as digital retail.
