Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.20.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its position in Walmart by 1,007.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 2.2 %

WMT stock opened at $85.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $687.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.93. Walmart has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.