Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading 0.1% Higher

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares shot up 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.70 and last traded at $60.21. 2,098,307 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 19,192,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.54.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.41. The company has a market cap of $482.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224 over the last three months. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after buying an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 112,181.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,240,599,000 after buying an additional 22,834,564 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. 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.