Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading 1.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s share price rose 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $109.74 and last traded at $109.08. Approximately 22,971,603 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 25,502,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $137.00 target price (down from $146.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore set a $125.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Walmart Stock Up 1.8%

The firm has a market cap of $865.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company 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. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.34, for a total transaction of $308,386.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 569,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,523,730.02. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total value of $5,335,345.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,246,145.20. The trade was a 20.07% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,879 shares of company stock valued at $7,235,277. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.