Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $98.73 and last traded at $97.78. Approximately 5,960,362 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 17,291,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Walmart from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.10. The company has a market capitalization of $776.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at $34,691,507.55. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. 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.