Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Melius Research

Melius Research began coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $95.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WMT. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $80.19.

Walmart Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WMT opened at $79.91 on Monday. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.07 and a 200 day moving average of $67.26. The firm has a market cap of $642.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock valued at $956,341,379 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 192.1% in the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 290.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. 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.