Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock Price Down 1.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Walmart's stock price decreased by 1.1%, trading between $100.37 and $101.72 during mid-day on Thursday, with a trading volume of approximately 19.4 million shares, up 5% from the average.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Walmart, with Goldman Sachs increasing theirs from $101.00 to $114.00 and Bank of America raising theirs from $120.00 to $125.00, reflecting strong bullish sentiment.
• Walmart's recent earnings report showed EPS of $0.68, which fell short of analysts' estimates, and the firm anticipates a 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $100.37 and last traded at $101.72. Approximately 19,482,346 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 18,591,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.38.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $101.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.06. The company has a market capitalization of $811.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.67.

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 firm had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.21, for a total value of $2,003,925.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,373,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $451,396,778.96. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.71, for a total transaction of $166,973.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 645,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,993,341.28. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,232 shares of company stock worth $15,083,877 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,856,468 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth approximately $5,367,770,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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