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

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMTGet Free Report) 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.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WMT

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:WMTGet Free Report) 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

(Get Free Report

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

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