Walmart (NYSE:WMT) PT Raised to $70.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price upped by Evercore ISI from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $68.01.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $65.23 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.71. Walmart has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $525.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors 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 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 35.52%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,733,075 shares of company stock valued at $1,237,280,394 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.