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

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.19.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $80.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.02. The company has a market cap of $649.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,360,248 shares of company stock worth $959,228,295 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc increased its position in Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.