Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading 1.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shares traded up 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $120.82 and last traded at $120.59. 22,269,467 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 26,353,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $125.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $959.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total transaction of $166,381.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 636,843 shares in the company, valued at $79,369,743.09. The trade was a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after buying an additional 21,939 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.5% in the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,931,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.