Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Cut to Hold at DZ Bank

DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. DZ Bank currently has $91.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $90.44 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $726.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $90.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.84.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 253.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

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.