Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at Evercore ISI

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target decreased by Evercore ISI from $67.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Walmart from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $61.54.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $59.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $482.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.41. Walmart has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $1,559,298.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,274,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,855,391.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,559,224. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,490.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 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.