Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.75.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Stifel Europe boosted their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $60.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.78. Walmart has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,990,016 shares of company stock worth $1,694,287,237 in the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 197.6% during the 1st quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 36,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 24,246 shares in the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners lifted its holdings in Walmart by 205.7% during the 1st quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 9,603 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 6,462 shares in the last quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 200.1% during the 1st quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Vigilare Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Walmart by 193.3% during the 1st quarter. Vigilare Wealth Management now owns 24,725 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 16,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Walmart by 284.8% during the 1st quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 58,225 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 43,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.