Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Vetr Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was downgraded by investment analysts at Vetr from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday, July 17th. They presently have a $64.26 target price on the retailer’s stock. Vetr‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 20.15% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WMT. Cowen and Company reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Sunday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “hold” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. Jefferies Group LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores in a research report on Sunday, June 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.86.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE WMT) traded down 0.48% on Monday, reaching $80.48. 7,141,805 shares of the company traded hands. Wal-Mart Stores has a one year low of $65.28 and a one year high of $81.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average of $73.51.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $116.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.01 billion. Wal-Mart Stores had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Wal-Mart Stores will post $4.36 EPS for the current year.

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In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,322 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $104,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,502.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,321,340 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.61, for a total value of $103,870,537.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,006,720 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,131,604. 51.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Fred Alger Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management Inc. now owns 29,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 4.0% in the first quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 809,413 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $58,342,000 after buying an additional 31,436 shares in the last quarter. British Columbia Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 35.8% in the first quarter. British Columbia Investment Management Corp now owns 795,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $57,359,000 after buying an additional 209,619 shares in the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores during the first quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Finally, Cohen Lawrence B increased its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 6,050 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 30.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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