Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report)’s share price fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $67.00 to $66.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as low as $59.78 and last traded at $59.84. 14,726,259 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 12,761,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.93.
Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.54.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WMT
Insider Activity at Walmart
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 112,181.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,834,564 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 15,371.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $553,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Walmart by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,279,324 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,935,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.
Walmart Stock Performance
The firm has a market cap of $480.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.45 and a 200 day moving average of $55.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Walmart Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.46%.
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.
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