Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WMT. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. HSBC lifted their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMT opened at $69.78 on Friday. Walmart has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $71.33. The company has a market capitalization of $561.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 2,035 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,556 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,443,000 after buying an additional 4,204 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,261 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,705 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Finally, Nova R Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 5,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in 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.