Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its target price dropped by analysts at Evercore ISI from $107.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.54% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.20.

Walmart Stock Down 2.7 %

WMT stock opened at $85.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $683.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.96 and its 200-day moving average is $88.59.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $467,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 99,793 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,016,000 after purchasing an additional 48,226 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $461,000. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $535,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.