Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirty-two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $125.0645.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 14th.

Walmart Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $131.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Walmart has a 12 month low of $79.81 and a 12 month high of $131.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $116.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.23. The company has a market cap of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.87, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,388 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $166,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 645,642 shares in the company, valued at $77,477,040. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.99, for a total transaction of $1,574,868.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 727,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,251,328.45. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 229,196 shares of company stock valued at $26,957,858. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,199,712,000 after purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,367,770,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,298,623 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,153,176,000 after purchasing an additional 634,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart joined the trillion‑dollar market‑cap club, boosting investor confidence that its investments in e‑commerce, tech and higher‑margin services are being rewarded. Walmart Trillion-Dollar Club (Fool)
• Positive Sentiment: Evidence of accelerating Walmart+ paid‑membership adoption supports a path to more recurring, higher‑margin revenue — a key part of the bull thesis. Walmart paid membership growth (Seeking Alpha)
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying (e.g., Alecta boosting its stake) is a vote of confidence from some money managers and can support the stock at higher levels. Alecta boosts stake in Walmart (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Retail commentator Tim Bohen flagged Walmart among his “Big 3” long‑term AI/retail ideas, reinforcing positive retail investor narratives. The Big 3: BE, WMT, XPO (YouTube)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is tilted positive but consensus targets are near current prices; recent quarterly results beat estimates and FY‑26 EPS guidance is modest — upside now depends on continued execution. Zacks: Earnings ESP for retailers
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling (EVP Donna Morris and others disclosed multi‑million dollar stock sales this week) can create short‑term selling pressure or be read as executives monetizing gains. Walmart insider selling (InsiderTrades)
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk from Amazon’s physical grocery/fulfillment push and Walmart’s elevated multiples mean any slowdown in sales or margin mix could trigger a pullback. Amazon grocery competition (Reuters)

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.