Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Shares Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $86.03 and last traded at $86.13. Approximately 6,920,190 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 15,874,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $688.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.89.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after acquiring an additional 18,644 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,511,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.