DA Davidson Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $117.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WMT. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $98.26 on Friday. Walmart has a 52-week low of $63.87 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $786.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.77, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 have sold a total of 133,857 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,743 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 319.7% during the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.