Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, thirty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $138.50.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Walmart from a “market perform” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,985,527.94. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,164 shares of company stock worth $6,389,402. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after buying an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.81, above the $0.74 consensus, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $187.94 billion and exceeded estimates. Walmart quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth areas remained strong: global e-commerce increased 23%, advertising revenue rose 38%, and global membership revenue grew 17%. Gross margin also benefited from tariff-refund impacts. Walmart reports second-quarter revenue growth
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal-year earnings outlook and expects to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to support lower prices, potentially strengthening customer traffic and market share. Walmart tariff refunds and prices
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS analyst Michael Lasser remained bullish, citing Walmart’s e-commerce, advertising and membership momentum, while technical coverage noted the stock had entered oversold territory near potential support around $100. Analyst remains bullish on Walmart
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, well below expectations near 3.5%–3.7% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Higher gas and other living costs appear to be causing consumers to make trade-offs, raising concerns about the broader U.S. consumer. Reuters report on Walmart sales miss
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter EPS guidance of $0.62–$0.64 and revenue guidance of $183.1–$184.5 billion fell short of consensus estimates of $0.68 and $188.2 billion, respectively. The timing of Flipkart’s major promotional event is also expected to create a sales headwind. Walmart guidance disappoints investors
• Negative Sentiment: Gordon Haskett downgraded Walmart from “buy” to “accumulate.” The stock’s premium valuation amplified the market’s reaction, while rising bond yields pressured the broader equity market. U.S. stocks slide as Walmart disappoints

Walmart Trading Down 9.2%

Shares of WMT opened at $103.84 on Friday. Walmart has a 1-year low of $95.42 and a 1-year high of $135.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $826.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

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.