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

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shares shot up 1.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $120.82 and last traded at $120.59. 22,269,467 shares changed hands 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $959.66 billion, a PE ratio of 42.31, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $125.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.77, for a total transaction of $167,212.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 635,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,023,275.61. This represents a 0.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 117,008 shares of company stock worth $14,492,704 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 188.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.