Walmart’s (WMT) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at DA Davidson in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $132.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price objective (down from $146.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Broker raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $106.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,352,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,489,555. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.08. Walmart has a 52-week low of $98.88 and a 52-week high of $135.15. 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 company has a market cap of $841.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel Bartlett sold 3,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.14, for a total value of $415,303.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 622,349 shares in the company, valued at $65,433,773.86. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.34, for a total value of $308,386.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 569,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,523,730.02. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 69,264 shares of company stock worth $7,401,242 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Walmart by 11,189.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 755,604,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $85,579,813,000 after purchasing an additional 748,911,635 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,905,655,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc is a multinational retail and technology company that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, e-commerce platforms and membership warehouse clubs. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and beauty products, general merchandise and other consumer products.

Founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated in 1969, Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company serves customers through operations in the United States and international markets, including Mexico, Canada, China, India and several countries in Central America and Africa.