Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) has been assigned a $110.00 price target by analysts at Robert W. Baird in a research report issued on Tuesday. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.39% from the stock’s current price.
Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Co set a $101.00 price target on shares of Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. ValuEngine raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup raised shares of Wal-Mart Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $106.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Wal-Mart Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.13.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, hitting $98.75. The stock had a trading volume of 7,144,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,903,859. 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 cap of $292,535.22, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.37. Wal-Mart Stores has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $100.13.
Wal-Mart Stores declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 10th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the retailer to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, insider Gregory S. Foran sold 52,793 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.86, for a total value of $5,113,529.98. Following the sale, the insider now owns 121,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,764,325.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 1,200 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.29, for a total transaction of $119,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,841,082.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,419,588 shares of company stock worth $1,207,333,538. Insiders own 51.39% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudock Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Capital Group LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 2,965 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Sterneck Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sterneck Capital Management LLC now owns 6,588 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. LLBH Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. LLBH Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,654 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 30.58% of the stock is currently 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.
