Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives $103.17 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.58.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Walmart in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % 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 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parisi Gray Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Everest Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $1,107,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 82.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 229,311 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,370,000 after buying an additional 103,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $94.91 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

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.