Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $93.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $99.00 to $93.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMT. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $85.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,511,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 48.0% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.