Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target Cut to $66.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

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

WMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Walmart to $67.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $61.54.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WMT opened at $59.85 on Tuesday. Walmart has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $482.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,274,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,855,391.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,032,265 shares of company stock worth $1,696,559,224. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of 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 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 $30,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.