Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Should You Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s share price shot up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $112.51 and last traded at $111.74. 18,953,551 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 25,446,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.65.

Walmart Trading Up 2.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $116.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.04. The company has a market cap of $889.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.60. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $342,751.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 574,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,953,695.07. The trade was a 0.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 over the last 90 days. Company 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 added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. 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.