Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Climb 1.6% – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shot up 1.6% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $113.14 and last traded at $113.08. Approximately 13,681,753 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 25,130,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Walmart from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Walmart from $147.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $141.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 price target (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.74.

Walmart Stock Up 1.6%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $108.42 and a 200-day moving average of $116.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $897.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.58.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total transaction of $5,335,345.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,246,145.20. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total value of $1,399,912.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This trade represents a 1.99% 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. Insiders sold 81,219 shares of company stock worth $8,604,429 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,455,131,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,905,655,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $796,677,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Walmart by 54.0% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,607,297 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,107,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,525,224 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Walmart by 44.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,355,463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ: WMT) is a multinational retailer that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and wellness products, household essentials and general merchandise. Walmart also provides services such as grocery pickup and delivery, pharmacy services, financial products and digital advertising.

The company serves customers through its Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club segments.