Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Mizuho

Mizuho began coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $105.00 price target on the retailer's stock.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $2.11 on Friday, reaching $94.91. The company had a trading volume of 27,724,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,697,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $760.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.95.

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Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer's stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,000. 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.