Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.69.

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE WMT opened at $97.55 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.69. The company has a market capitalization of $783.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 12 month low of $54.54 and a 12 month high of $98.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.