Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Mizuho

Mizuho started coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $105.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $92.81 on Friday. Walmart has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $744.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $504,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.