Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading Down 2.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Walmart shares fell 2.7% in Thursday trading, with the stock closing near $115.78 after trading as low as $115.38. Volume was below average, with about 20.1 million shares changing hands.
• Wall Street remains generally positive on the retailer: several analysts recently raised price targets, and MarketBeat shows a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target price of $138.85.
• Walmart’s latest quarterly results topped revenue expectations, posting $177.75 billion in sales and matching EPS estimates at $0.66. The company also reported 7.4% year-over-year revenue growth, while insiders have continued to sell small amounts of stock.

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $115.38 and last traded at $115.78. Approximately 20,123,217 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 25,995,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $141.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $921.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $124.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.21.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total value of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,730 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,624. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,272,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 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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