Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.75.

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after buying an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,729 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $60.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.59. Walmart has a 1-year low of $48.34 and a 1-year high of $61.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $484.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.