Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.75.

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Europe boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $485.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.86.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors 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 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 1,490.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.