Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Coverage Initiated at Melius Research

Stock analysts at Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Melius Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.71% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.76.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Monday, hitting $80.03. 6,092,792 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,492,826. Walmart has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $81.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $643.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Walmart by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 4,832 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 106.5% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 640 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. 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.