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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.17.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $85.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $687.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.34 and a 200 day moving average of $88.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

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.