Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Rating Lowered to Hold at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WMT. Truist Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.20.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $86.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $693.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.92.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1,007.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

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.