Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading 1% Higher – Still a Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT – Get Free Report)’s stock price shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $116.95 and last traded at $116.70. 18,406,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 18,666,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $123.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson set a $130.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.31.

Get Our Latest Report on WMT

Walmart Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.32. The stock has a market cap of $930.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.64. 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 – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $179.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $415,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,048,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,861,082.65. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $746,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,289 shares in the company, valued at $14,535,221.85. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 128,013 shares of company stock worth $13,553,747 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 397,264.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,496,702,000 after buying an additional 104,488,610 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $5,367,770,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 9,648.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,123,138,000 after acquiring an additional 11,368,549 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,223,116,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.

Featured Articles