Royal Bank Of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $137.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 25.63% from the company’s previous close.

WMT has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Walmart Trading Down 1.2%

Walmart stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $109.05. 5,225,181 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,464,332. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $95.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $118.11 and its 200-day moving average is $122.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $867.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.60.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total value of $413,891.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,074,186.76. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 87,145 shares of company stock valued at $10,691,920 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after buying an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in 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 last quarter. 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.