Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s share price traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $86.53 and last traded at $85.91. 3,207,816 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,819,603 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

Walmart Stock Up 0.5 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.93. The firm has a market cap of $690.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $6,679,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $400,000. Triton Wealth Management PLLC lifted its position in Walmart by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 27,469 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,844,000. Finally, Thoma Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $727,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.