Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading 3.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s stock price shot up 3.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $131.70 and last traded at $131.18. 25,729,340 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 42,005,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.94.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart joined the trillion‑dollar market‑cap club, boosting investor confidence that its investments in e‑commerce, tech and higher‑margin services are being rewarded. Walmart Trillion-Dollar Club (Fool)
• Positive Sentiment: Evidence of accelerating Walmart+ paid‑membership adoption supports a path to more recurring, higher‑margin revenue — a key part of the bull thesis. Walmart paid membership growth (Seeking Alpha)
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying (e.g., Alecta boosting its stake) is a vote of confidence from some money managers and can support the stock at higher levels. Alecta boosts stake in Walmart (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Retail commentator Tim Bohen flagged Walmart among his “Big 3” long‑term AI/retail ideas, reinforcing positive retail investor narratives. The Big 3: BE, WMT, XPO (YouTube)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is tilted positive but consensus targets are near current prices; recent quarterly results beat estimates and FY‑26 EPS guidance is modest — upside now depends on continued execution. Zacks: Earnings ESP for retailers
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling (EVP Donna Morris and others disclosed multi‑million dollar stock sales this week) can create short‑term selling pressure or be read as executives monetizing gains. Walmart insider selling (InsiderTrades)
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk from Amazon’s physical grocery/fulfillment push and Walmart’s elevated multiples mean any slowdown in sales or margin mix could trigger a pullback. Amazon grocery competition (Reuters)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho set a $125.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Walmart from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $119.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Thirty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.06.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $116.44 and a 200-day moving average of $107.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $179.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.99, for a total value of $1,574,868.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 727,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,251,328.45. This trade represents 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 Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total value of $9,430,445.99. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 402,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,772,492.88. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 229,196 shares of company stock valued at $26,957,858 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,199,712,000 after buying an additional 263,718 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,367,770,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,298,623 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,153,176,000 after acquiring an additional 634,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.