Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 0.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $67.00 to $66.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as low as $59.78 and last traded at $59.84. 14,726,259 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 12,761,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.93.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. Stifel Europe lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.30, for a total transaction of $712,687.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 780,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,393,421.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.30, for a total transaction of $712,687.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 780,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,393,421.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the completion of 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1,490.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.47. The firm has a market cap of $477.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 43.38%.

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.