Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Walmart shares fell about 1% on Wednesday, trading as low as $112.07 and ending near $112.53, below the prior close of $113.70.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on the stock, with several firms raising or reaffirming buy/overweight ratings and a consensus target price of $138.85.
• The company’s latest earnings were solid, as Walmart matched EPS estimates and posted 7.4% year-over-year revenue growth to $177.75 billion, though recent insider selling and the stock trading below key moving averages may have weighed on sentiment.

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) traded down 1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $112.07 and last traded at $112.53. 16,329,516 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 25,712,148 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a market cap of $895.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The company had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total transaction of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,170 shares of company stock worth $12,692,133. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 188.1% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 6.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. 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.

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