Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Now Covered by Melius Research

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WMT. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $80.19.

Walmart Stock Down 1.8 %

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 in the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 290.7% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.