Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) were down 1% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $119.12 and last traded at $119.89. 18,105,781 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 24,969,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.12.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI shopping tools could expand Walmart’s digital sales. Walmart introduced tools that allow third-party AI agents to search for products and complete purchases on customers’ behalf. The strategy could increase transaction volume and keep Walmart competitive in AI-enabled commerce, particularly as Amazon takes a more restrictive approach to outside shopping bots. Walmart launches tools for AI agents to shop for customers
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart+ and Sam’s Club are being bundled for $120. The combined membership offer may improve customer retention, increase cross-shopping between Walmart and Sam’s Club, and support recurring fee revenue. Walmart’s $120 Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Bundle
• Positive Sentiment: Recent momentum reflects investor confidence in Walmart’s defensive retail position. Reports say Walmart is on track for its strongest monthly performance since 1999, while it continues to gain grocery market share and benefit from a relatively resilient consumer base. Walmart’s Best Month Since 1999 Leads a Record Staples Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: New Fast & Furious collectibles are coming to Walmart. The 25th-anniversary NOS capsule collection could generate incremental seasonal traffic and sales, but the financial impact is likely limited relative to Walmart’s overall business. PMI Brings Fast and Furious Collectibles to Walmart
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is becoming a bigger concern. Walmart has returned about 160% over five years and is trading well above historical earnings multiples. Investors may be questioning whether future earnings growth can justify the current price, increasing the risk of profit-taking after the recent rally. Is Walmart Getting Too Expensive on Earnings?
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure could intensify in groceries. Kroger plans to use cost reductions and lower prices to regain market share from Walmart and Costco, potentially pressuring Walmart’s pricing power and margins. Kroger Plans Price Cuts to Compete With Walmart

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Truist Financial set a $114.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Capital raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $951.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.28, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.17 and a 200-day moving average of $116.00.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total transaction of $575,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 110,432 shares in the company, valued at $12,699,680. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $349,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 563,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,940,371.80. This represents a 0.51% 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. Insiders have sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,036,646 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,297,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,781 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,455,131,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,142,040 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,497,493,000 after buying an additional 1,681,353 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $2,905,655,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 44.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,355,463,000 after buying an additional 6,393,326 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) operates a global retail business through a network of supercenters, supermarkets, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its stores and websites sell a broad assortment of merchandise, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness products, apparel, electronics, home goods, toys and other general merchandise.

The company organizes its operations into Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club U.S. Walmart U.S.