Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) has been assigned a $101.00 price objective by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Co in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Co’s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.28% from the stock’s current price.
Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Wal-Mart Stores from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 15th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Wal-Mart Stores from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Citigroup raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group set a $87.00 target price on shares of Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 (NYSE WMT) traded down $0.65 on Wednesday, hitting $98.75. 7,143,571 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,903,852. The firm has a market cap of $293,540.00, a PE ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.19. Wal-Mart Stores has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $100.13.
Wal-Mart Stores announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 10th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 1,319,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total value of $128,760,572.13. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,057,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,079,295,634.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.99, for a total transaction of $200,284.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,848,629.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,419,588 shares of company stock valued at $1,207,333,538 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Atlantic Trust Group LLC increased its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 5.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Trust Group LLC now owns 287,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $22,437,000 after acquiring an additional 15,636 shares during the period. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 4,998,556 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $390,587,000 after buying an additional 220,069 shares during the period. AXA increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. AXA now owns 549,292 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,921,000 after buying an additional 14,636 shares during the period. Wagner Bowman Management Corp increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wagner Bowman Management Corp now owns 12,159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Finally, Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC now owns 39,789 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.58% of the company’s stock.
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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.
