Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Walmart Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of **"Moderate Buy"** from thirty analysts, with one hold rating and twenty-nine buy ratings.
• The average twelve-month price target for Walmart's stock is **$112.38**, as reported by brokerages that have updated their coverage in the last year.
• Walmart's latest earnings report revealed a **miss in earnings per share**, reporting $0.68 against an expected $0.74, while quarterly revenue reached **$169.34 billion**.

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.3793.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Wolfe Research began coverage on Walmart in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 target price on Walmart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $103.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $821.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.31. Walmart has a 12-month low of $78.98 and a 12-month high of $106.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total value of $403,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,052,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $106,255,856.80. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Suresh Kumar sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.47, for a total value of $3,104,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,787,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,921,584. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,032 shares of company stock valued at $14,860,951. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer's stock worth $42,223,116,000 after buying an additional 5,856,468 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 104,488,610 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer's stock worth $9,199,712,000 after buying an additional 263,718 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth $5,367,770,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 30.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.