Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Walmart Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from thirty-two analysts, with one hold rating and one strong buy rating.
• The average one-year price target for Walmart's stock among analysts is $106.67, reflecting recent increases in price targets from several equity research firms.
• Walmart reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.61, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.58, and reported a year-over-year revenue growth of 2.5%.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the thirty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $103.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.39. Walmart has a twelve month low of $67.14 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $828.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total transaction of $1,855,781.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,412,398 shares in the company, valued at $421,737,000.84. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total transaction of $216,260.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 626,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,547,399.40. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,112 shares of company stock valued at $14,080,073 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth about $3,384,000. Summitry LLC grew its position in Walmart by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 126.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 744 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Walmart by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,609,235 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $157,351,000 after buying an additional 128,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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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