Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Posted by on Jun 18th, 2023

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

WMT has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $164.00 to $169.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Walmart from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.91.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $155.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $418.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.75 and its 200 day moving average is $146.24. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $117.97 and a fifty-two week high of $158.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.15. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 1.82%. The business had revenue of $152.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 6.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.74, for a total value of $626,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,975 shares in the company, valued at $6,265,681.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,369,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $213,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 242,553,516 shares in the company, valued at $37,838,348,496. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.74, for a total value of $626,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,265,681.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,318,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,859,260. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,322 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Bradley Mark J. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Bradley Mark J. now owns 25,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,812,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $1,303,000. Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $350,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $956,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.

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Analyst Recommendations for Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

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