Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) traded up 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $116.95 and last traded at $116.70. 18,406,230 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 18,666,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Evercore ISI set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.31.

Walmart Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $930.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.32.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.23, for a total value of $244,706.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 617,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,664,281.14. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total value of $746,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,289 shares in the company, valued at $14,535,221.85. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 128,013 shares of company stock worth $13,553,747. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 397,264.9% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,496,702,000 after acquiring an additional 104,488,610 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,367,770,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9,648.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,123,138,000 after buying an additional 11,368,549 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,223,116,000 after buying an additional 5,856,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.