Christopher James Nicholas Sells 2,900 Shares of Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock

Key Points

• Walmart EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares for approximately $308,386 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his ownership by 0.51% to 569,153 shares.
• Walmart exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.81 versus $0.74 expected and revenue of $187.94 billion, up 5.9% year over year. E-commerce, advertising, and membership revenues showed particularly strong growth.
• Despite mostly bullish analyst ratings, Walmart’s shares traded near $103.70 after the company issued weaker-than-expected third-quarter guidance and reported U.S. comparable-sales growth of 2.6%, below forecasts.

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.34, for a total value of $308,386.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 569,153 shares in the company, valued at $60,523,730.02. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher James Nicholas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 18th, Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $342,751.00.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $103.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 44,360,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,623,295. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $825.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $113.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.39. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.42 and a 12-month high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.94 billion, beating consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remain strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38%, and global membership revenue grew 17%. These trends support the long-term investment case despite slower core-store growth. Walmart second-quarter highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to help lower prices, potentially strengthening its value proposition as consumers become more budget-conscious. The rollout of tap-to-pay, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, may also improve checkout convenience. Walmart tap to pay rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts retained bullish ratings—including buy, outperform, and overweight—but lowered price targets after the earnings release. New targets range from $120 to $140, indicating analysts still see meaningful upside but have moderated their expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5%, marking Walmart’s weakest domestic comparable-sales growth in more than six years. Analysts cited weakness in health and wellness and questioned the trajectory of the core U.S. business.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance fell short of consensus: Walmart projected adjusted EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus $0.68 expected and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce quarterly sales growth by more than 100 basis points.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s elevated valuation increases sensitivity to any slowdown, while higher energy costs and consumer trade-offs are raising broader concerns about the health of U.S. retail spending.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $128.00 target price (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Guggenheim set a $130.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial set a $114.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Walmart from $141.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer's stock worth $19,046,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at $7,455,131,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source