Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Jumps 1.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) were up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $124.51 and last traded at $123.51. 29,587,862 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 24,841,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.25.

Walmart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Energy investment expands Walmart’s customer offerings: Walmart is making a strategic investment in Base Power and will offer the company’s home battery systems to Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members beginning in November. The systems are designed to reduce energy costs and provide backup power, creating a potential new customer benefit while expanding Walmart’s ecosystem beyond traditional retail. Walmart and Base Power announce strategic agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Major automation agreement with Symbotic: Walmart expanded its commercial relationship with warehouse-automation provider Symbotic in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion. Greater automation could improve fulfillment capacity, labor efficiency and inventory management, although the investment also carries execution and capital-spending risks. Symbotic stock jumps on Walmart automation deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals continue to support the stock: Walmart’s latest quarterly results exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising year over year. Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight earnings growth and price strength as reasons to remain constructive on WMT. Earnings growth and price strength make Walmart a stock to watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare expansion offers a longer-term growth avenue: Walmart has broadened its Better Care Services platform into a healthcare marketplace connecting customers with third-party providers. The initiative could increase customer engagement, but its financial contribution is not yet clear. Walmart launched a healthcare services marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory concerns remain: DoorDash’s proposed $17 billion acquisition of Instacart is intended partly to strengthen competition with Walmart and Amazon in local commerce and grocery delivery. Separately, the FTC is seeking information from Walmart about the use of personal data in personalized pricing, creating potential compliance and reputational risks. FTC orders Walmart and others to share pricing data information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation comparisons could limit upside: Walmart trades at a substantially higher earnings multiple than Target, while commentary suggests Walmart’s comparable-sales growth may be moderating. That premium leaves the stock more exposed if growth expectations weaken. Target trades at a fraction of Walmart’s valuation

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 target price (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Truist Financial set a $114.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Capital raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Walmart from $147.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.41.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.40. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.58.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total value of $349,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 563,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,940,371.80. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total value of $1,399,912.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock worth $11,112,044. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Walmart by 5.5% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 38,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 51,241 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,325,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 15,073 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Gordian Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gordian Advisors LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 59,900 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,181,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) operates a global retail business through a network of supercenters, supermarkets, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its stores and websites sell a broad assortment of merchandise, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness products, apparel, electronics, home goods, toys and other general merchandise.

The company organizes its operations into Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club U.S. Walmart U.S.