Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 0.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares were up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $68.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as high as $61.05 and last traded at $60.68. Approximately 2,290,621 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 20,300,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.51.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total value of $781,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 219,547 shares in the company, valued at $13,065,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,990,016 shares of company stock worth $1,693,978,567. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AMI Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Walmart by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Walmart by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $127,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,985 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $484.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.