Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) has been assigned a $101.00 price objective by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.28% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WMT. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Bank of America set a $100.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank set a $88.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Jefferies Group set a $105.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 14th. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co set a $102.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.78.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) opened at $98.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $292,683.34, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Wal-Mart Stores has a twelve month low of $65.28 and a twelve month high of $100.13.
Wal-Mart Stores declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 10th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the retailer to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.47, for a total transaction of $158,940,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,748,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,309,652.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $125,294.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,668,875. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,421,174 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,398,832. Insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,982,372 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,360,906,000 after acquiring an additional 5,608,785 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,745,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $434,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,422 shares during the period. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 4,883,390 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,364 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 100.2% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,646,589 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $200,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,722 shares during the period. Finally, Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 2,058,798 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $160,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.58% of the company’s stock.
Wal-Mart Stores Company Profile
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.
