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; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications. The company offers grocery and consumables, which includes dairy, meat, bakery, deli, produce, dry, chilled or frozen packaged foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, floral, snack foods, candy, other grocery items, health and beauty aids, paper goods, laundry and home care, baby care, pet supplies, and other consumable items; and health and wellness products covering pharmacy, over-the-counter drugs and other medical products, and optical and hearing services. It also provides gasoline stations and tobacco; home improvement, outdoor living, gardening, furniture, apparel, jewelry, tools and power equipment, housewares, toys, seasonal items, mattresses, and tire and battery centers; and consumer electronics and accessories, software, video games, office supplies, appliances, and third-party gift cards. In addition, the company offers fuel and financial services and related products, including money orders, prepaid cards, money transfers, and check cashing and bill payment, as well as various types of installment lending. It operates approximately 10,500 stores and various e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The company was formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and changed its name to Walmart Inc. in February 2018. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Walmart from $166.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Walmart from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America cut their price target on Walmart from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Walmart from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a "na" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.66.
Walmart Stock Performance
WMT opened at $139.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $382.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.05 and a 200-day moving average of $136.66. Walmart has a 52-week low of $117.27 and a 52-week high of $160.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.86.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 16th. The retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $152.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.96 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 2.26%. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Transactions at Walmart
In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.13, for a total transaction of $1,185,638.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,517,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,290,750.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,124 shares of company stock worth $3,638,461. 47.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.