Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $138.8529.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price target on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Craig Hallum set a $150.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at $495,230,306.77. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after buying an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. 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 during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart’s head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

WMT opened at $120.50 on Friday. Walmart has a 1-year low of $93.43 and a 1-year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $958.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.