Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Cut to "Hold" at DZ Bank

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at DZ Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $91.00 price target on the retailer's stock. DZ Bank's target price indicates a potential upside of 4.38% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.49.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $87.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.43. Walmart has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $88.29. The firm has a market cap of $700.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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