Walmart’s (WMT) Buy Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $100.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $96.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart has a 1 year low of $58.20 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.70 and a 200-day moving average of $87.17. The company has a market cap of $772.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.55 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 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 28.6% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 10,221 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Amarillo National Bank lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the third quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 84,982 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,862,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 7.1% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.5% in the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 5,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.