Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released 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 indicate a potential upside of 19.22% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on WMT. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial set a $140.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Walmart from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.56.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $114.91. 2,819,005 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,138,648. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.59. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $95.42 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The company has a market capitalization of $914.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at $495,230,306.77. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $342,751.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 574,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,953,695.07. The trade was 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,439 shares of company stock worth $8,544,532. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MFA Wealth Services grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 10,909 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the first quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 4,089 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.1% during the first quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 9,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 27,220 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.