Brokerages Set Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Price Target at $61.60

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.60.

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT traded down $0.55 on Friday, reaching $60.17. The company had a trading volume of 17,535,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,550,184. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $58.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.91. Walmart has a 12 month low of $47.82 and a 12 month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,990,016 shares of company stock worth $1,693,978,567 over the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 112,181.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,834,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.