Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.99.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Walmart 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 value of $28,139,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $684,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 39,055 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,353,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,556,096. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.78. Walmart has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02. The firm has a market cap of $635.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Walmart's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

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.