Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shares were up 1.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $119.41 and last traded at $119.14. Approximately 21,580,465 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 45,415,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $119.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $123.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho set a $125.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Thirty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.37.

Walmart Stock Up 1.5%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.79. The company has a market capitalization of $949.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.66. 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) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $179.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.91, for a total value of $1,508,193.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 733,841 shares in the company, valued at $84,325,669.31. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 have sold 135,215 shares of company stock worth $15,304,608 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,367,770,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,298,623 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,153,176,000 after buying an additional 634,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.