Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 2.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Walmart shares fell 2.2% on Monday, trading as low as $126.38 before last changing hands at $127.59, below the prior close of $130.43.
• Despite the pullback, analysts remain bullish: multiple firms reiterated buy/outperform ratings, and the consensus price target is about $138.33.
• Walmart recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, posting $0.74 EPS on $190.66 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share.

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $126.38 and last traded at $127.59. 18,342,070 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 26,458,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $140.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $138.33.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 46.57, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 36.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 486,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62,203,571.56. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.72, for a total transaction of $361,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 596,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $74,334,117.76. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,195 shares of company stock valued at $20,975,804. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 during 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.

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