Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. started coverage on shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in a report published on Wednesday, August 2nd. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $90.00 target price on the retailer’s stock. Oppenheimer Holdings also issued estimates for Wal-Mart Stores’ Q2 2018 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.98 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $1.32 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $4.36 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $1.05 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $1.03 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $1.38 EPS, FY2019 earnings at $4.57 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $4.88 EPS.
“fresher than it’s been in years.”Walmart is in the early stages of developing what could prove to be a “model” omni-channel structure, the analyst explained. For instance, the acquisition of Jet.com is just one of many “meaningful step forward” to solidify its status a “proven industry innovator” with many “unique capabilities.” So far, there are early encouraging signs of growth in the online channel as gross merchandise volume accelerated to 69 percent on a year-over-year basis.Meanwhile, Walmart isn’t neglecting its physical stores and has many initiatives ahead to spur growth, including:Online grocery shopping and collect in store.Two-day shipping with a $35 minimum from stores.Home delivery experiments.Also, improving food inflation trends could help boost top-line growth.Finally, the entrance of the Germany-based budget grocery chain Lidl to the U.S. market shouldn’t cause investors to worry. Walmart was able to respond very aggressively to sustain its market position through pricing and merchandising fronts.”In our view, WMT, more than many other leading chains, now recognizes an opportunity to leverage the key attributes that fuel its dominance in physical retail, in the digital world and increasingly go ‘toe to toe’ with eCommerce leaders such as amazon.com,,” Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc.’s analyst wrote.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BidaskClub upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) set a $84.00 target price on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $74.00 target price on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Vetr cut Wal-Mart Stores from a sell rating to a strong sell rating and set a $64.26 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $79.77.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) traded up 0.37% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.70. 7,792,028 shares of the company traded hands. Wal-Mart Stores has a 52-week low of $65.28 and a 52-week high of $81.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.61 and its 200 day moving average is $74.35.
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $116.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.01 billion. Wal-Mart Stores had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 2.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wal-Mart Stores will post $4.36 earnings per share for the current year.
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In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,476,374 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $193,949,611.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,748,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $528,548,785.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,576,324 shares of Wal-Mart Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.65, for a total value of $202,627,882.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,748,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $530,775,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,006,720 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,131,604. 51.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hudock Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the second 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 during the period. Gemmer Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.3% in the second 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 during the period. Asset Planning Services Ltd. raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.7% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. now owns 1,511 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Alexandria Capital LLC raised its stake in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.9% in the first quarter. Alexandria Capital LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.00% 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.
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