Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 2% – Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price was up 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $86.97 and last traded at $85.50. Approximately 7,814,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 17,227,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $667.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Walmart by 25.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,539,869 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $205,094,000 after buying an additional 514,262 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Walmart by 18.5% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 416,208 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,609,000 after buying an additional 64,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 8,306 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently 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.