Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 2.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 2.1% during trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $107.00 to $100.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Walmart traded as low as $86.31 and last traded at $85.61. 6,293,141 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 15,759,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.44.

WMT has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.20.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,293,612.80. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $683.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.

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