Evercore ISI Cuts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $66.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price lowered by Evercore ISI from $67.00 to $66.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Europe raised their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $61.54.

Walmart Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $59.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.47. Walmart has a 52 week low of $48.34 and a 52 week high of $61.65.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1,490.0% in the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Walmart by 199.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.