Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shares dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $123.05 and last traded at $123.49. Approximately 18,103,931 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 34,162,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Tigress Financial set a $150.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $984.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.99, for a total value of $1,574,868.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 727,155 shares in the company, valued at $87,251,328.45. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.27, for a total value of $2,445,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 506,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,962,034.28. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 279,703 shares of company stock valued at $34,140,843 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

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.