Evercore ISI Cuts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $177.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $187.00 to $177.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Walmart from $169.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.00.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $155.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.90. Walmart has a 12-month low of $136.09 and a 12-month high of $169.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $418.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The retailer reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Walmart had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 21.20%. The business had revenue of $160.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.99, for a total transaction of $1,582,306.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,451,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,629,044.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,166 shares of company stock worth $5,066,701. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Walmart by 93,272.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 821,003,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,045,359,000 after buying an additional 820,124,410 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 100,364,767 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,775,334,000 after buying an additional 430,215 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,499,791 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,995,749,000 after buying an additional 394,797 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 112,181.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,240,599,000 after buying an additional 22,834,564 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.