Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective lifted by Evercore ISI from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Europe lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $61.60.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $60.17 on Tuesday. Walmart has a 1 year low of $47.82 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $484.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $1,559,298.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,274,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,855,391.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,990,016 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,978,567. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after acquiring an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 767,013 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,668,000 after buying an additional 167,800 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 23,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 2,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Walmart

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 under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.