Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s stock price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $115.46 and last traded at $114.53. Approximately 21,893,206 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 20,515,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.07.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated its Buy rating on WMT, reinforcing institutional confidence in Walmart’s outlook and supporting demand for the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its price target to $125 (from $115) and kept an Outperform/Overweight view, signaling upward analyst momentum that can boost buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo also lifted its target to $130 and remains constructive on Walmart, adding to the analyst support narrative behind the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart launched “Better Care Services,” a digital healthcare platform and lowered prices on some health items — a strategic push that could expand margins and services revenue over time. Analysts are re-assessing valuation with this new health push in mind. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart added Shishir Mehrotra (ex-Grammarly/Superhuman) to its board — a governance move emphasizing AI and e‑commerce expertise that investors view as strengthening Walmart’s tech roadmap. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart launched a celebrity fashion line (Millie Bobby Brown) aimed at teens and young women — a branding/merchandising boost but likely modest near-term financial impact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage notes (Zacks, Kalkine, AmericanBankingNews) show elevated investor attention and a consensus “moderate buy,” which keeps the stock in focus but doesn’t single-handedly move fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon received approval to build a 225,000 sq ft Walmart-style supercenter near Chicago that would blend in-store shopping with fulfillment — a clear competitive threat to Walmart’s grocery and omnichannel footprint in key markets. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank downgraded Walmart from Buy to Hold with a $119 target, signaling some analyst caution (limits upside relative to recent price moves) and adding selling pressure for more risk‑sensitive investors. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore ISI set a $120.00 target price on Walmart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $127.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.37.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $912.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The business had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.23, for a total transaction of $244,706.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 617,318 shares in the company, valued at $68,664,281.14. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.91, for a total transaction of $1,508,193.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 733,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,325,669.31. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,628 shares of company stock valued at $13,690,065. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $44,898,368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 397,264.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,496,702,000 after acquiring an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,199,712,000 after buying an additional 263,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,367,770,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.