Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $81.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WMT. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Walmart Stock Down 0.8 %

Walmart stock opened at $69.24 on Wednesday. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $556.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.52.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Walmart by 199.3% during the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.