Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) – Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group increased their FY2020 earnings per share estimates for shares of Walmart in a research note issued on Thursday, August 15th, Zacks Investment Research reports. Jefferies Financial Group analyst C. Mandeville now expects that the retailer will post earnings per share of $4.94 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $4.81. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a “Buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Walmart’s Q4 2020 earnings at $1.45 EPS, FY2021 earnings at $5.16 EPS, FY2022 earnings at $5.51 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $5.88 EPS.
Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Gordon Haskett raised Walmart from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up from $118.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $112.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $124.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.33.
Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $116.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,669,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,533,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.76. Walmart has a 12-month low of $85.78 and a 12-month high of $117.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.75. The company has a market cap of $330.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.39.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $130.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.32 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 18.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4,405.6% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 10,353,388 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,143,946,000 after buying an additional 10,123,600 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,977,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,233,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,978 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 184.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,653,682 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $514,185,000 after acquiring an additional 3,015,931 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 11,482.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 2,444,380 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $244,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423,276 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,148,619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,687,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,362 shares during the last quarter. 30.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
In related news, insider Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.14, for a total transaction of $327,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 122,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,388,531.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 3,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.38, for a total value of $424,598.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,658,306 over the last quarter. 50.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Walmart Company Profile
Walmart Inc engages in the retail and wholesale operations in various formats 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, discount stores, drugstores, and convenience stores; membership-only warehouse clubs; e-commerce Websites, such as walmart.com, jet.com, shoes.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.