Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) was down 3.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $121.79 and last traded at $122.49. Approximately 15,832,503 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 30,224,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $136.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price objective on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Walmart Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $976.54 billion, a PE ratio of 44.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.60.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 36.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.10, for a total transaction of $1,694,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 591,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,308,944.40. The trade was a 2.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total value of $4,158,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,082,852. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,278 shares of company stock worth $33,825,793. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.