Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

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

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $60.13 on Tuesday. Walmart has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.64 and its 200 day moving average is $55.59. The company has a market cap of $484.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its 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 net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,032,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,559,224 over the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Walmart by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.