Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s share price traded down 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $123.94 and last traded at $124.42. 18,572,150 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 37,366,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.75.

Walmart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported a modest Q4 beat, raised FY guidance range and paired results with shareholder-friendly capital return: the company completed a $16.14B repurchase, approved a new $30B buyback authorization and a $0.99 FY27 dividend — all supportive of EPS and shareholder returns. How Investors May Respond To Walmart E-commerce Strength And New US$30 Billion Buyback Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is building: TD Cowen raised its WMT price target to $145 (from $136) citing AI-enabled retail momentum, and other Street notes have lifted targets—this supports upside expectations. TD Cowen Raises Walmart (WMT) Price Target to $145 from $136
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is pushing in-store tech and supplier tools (Scintilla In-Store) and rolling out new national brands, which should help inventory execution, grow marketplace/advertising revenue and lift e‑commerce penetration. These initiatives support longer-term margin expansion. Walmart Supplier Tech And New Brands Reframe Stores As Data Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart management will participate in upcoming investor events and webcasts — useful for analysts and investors to get direct color on strategy, but not an immediate earnings-moving item. Walmart Leadership to Participate in Upcoming Investor Events
• Negative Sentiment: Walmart agreed to settle FTC claims over deceptive pay disclosures in its Spark driver program for roughly $100M, accused of misleading drivers and customers about base pay and tip handling — a new one-time charge and reputational/legal risk that is weighing on sentiment. Walmart agrees to $100M settlement over deceptive pay practices in Spark Driver program Walmart agrees to pay $16 million to its Spark delivery drivers to settle claims it misled them over tips and pay
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale (CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares) was reported — typically a small negative signal that can amplify short-term selling pressure when combined with the FTC news. John Furner Sells 13,125 Shares of Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.67.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.81. The stock has a market cap of $991.65 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.31%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $9,430,445.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 402,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,772,492.88. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.83, for a total value of $2,171,291.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,315,333 shares in the company, valued at $482,583,689.39. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 261,903 shares of company stock worth $31,496,959 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,175,703 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $121,168,000 after buying an additional 229,220 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $1,709,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,091,126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $497,771,000 after acquiring an additional 42,645 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 16.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 63,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 9,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its stake in Walmart by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,833,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,861,000 after purchasing an additional 539,504 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.