Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Price Target Lowered to $140.00 at BTIG Research

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at BTIG Research from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $142.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.44.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $103.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $826.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.39. Walmart has a one year low of $95.42 and a one year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.62 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $342,751.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 574,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,953,695.07. The trade was a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 54,164 shares of company stock worth $6,389,402. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,458,529,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth $2,905,655,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 188.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $796,677,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.94 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remained strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38% and global membership revenue grew 17%. Gross-profit margin also improved, helped partly by tariff-related benefits. Walmart revenue growth release
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook and expects to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to support price cuts, potentially strengthening Walmart’s value proposition with financially pressured shoppers. Walmart tariff refund price cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts view the selloff as a potential entry point, citing Walmart’s scale, international operations, digital growth, advertising business and margin gains. However, its roughly 36 times earnings valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Walmart post-earnings buying opportunity
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales increased just 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Investors interpreted the result as evidence that higher energy costs and inflation are forcing consumers to reduce or reprioritize spending. Reuters Walmart sales miss article
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter guidance was below Wall Street expectations: EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus an estimated $0.68, and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus approximately $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce quarterly sales growth by more than 100 basis points. Investopedia Walmart guidance article
• Negative Sentiment: Gordon Haskett downgraded Walmart from “buy” to “accumulate,” reinforcing concerns that the stock’s premium valuation is vulnerable to slower U.S. sales growth and margin pressure from price investments.

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.