Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading 1.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s share price was up 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $114.16 and last traded at $113.90. Approximately 12,298,593 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 25,937,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.21.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is rolling out more wellness benefits at Sam’s Club, including Weight Watchers perks, which could deepen member loyalty, support renewals, and boost recurring membership revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is also getting attention for broad price cuts across groceries and household staples, which should help reinforce its reputation as a defensive, inflation-fighting retailer and drive traffic to stores and clubs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer said Walmart is one of the “greatest companies on earth” and called the recent pullback an “incredible buying opportunity,” helping support sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Walmart’s health event and its AI shopping efforts highlights longer-term strategic investments, but these items are more thematic than immediate catalysts for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Walmart’s AI shopping race with Amazon underscores competitive pressure in retail tech, but it does not point to any near-term operational setback for Walmart. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $137.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.85.

Walmart Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.76 and a 200 day moving average of $122.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $906.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.60.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The business’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, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,985,527.94. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,174,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 104,505 shares of company stock valued at $12,858,514 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,526,238,000 after acquiring an additional 328,229 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Walmart

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.