Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Picked Up by Analysts at TD Cowen

Research analysts at TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks reports. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Walmart from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two 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 a consensus price target of $132.41.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $123.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.58. Walmart has a 52 week low of $98.88 and a 52 week high of $135.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $1,582,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 634,790 shares in the company, valued at $76,555,674. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total transaction of $5,335,345.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,246,145.20. This represents a 20.07% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock worth $11,112,044 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,367 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,073 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 102,648 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Energy investment expands Walmart’s customer offerings: Walmart is making a strategic investment in Base Power and will offer the company’s home battery systems to Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members beginning in November. The systems are designed to reduce energy costs and provide backup power, creating a potential new customer benefit while expanding Walmart’s ecosystem beyond traditional retail. Walmart and Base Power announce strategic agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Major automation agreement with Symbotic: Walmart expanded its commercial relationship with warehouse-automation provider Symbotic in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion. Greater automation could improve fulfillment capacity, labor efficiency and inventory management, although the investment also carries execution and capital-spending risks. Symbotic stock jumps on Walmart automation deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals continue to support the stock: Walmart’s latest quarterly results exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising year over year. Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight earnings growth and price strength as reasons to remain constructive on WMT. Earnings growth and price strength make Walmart a stock to watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare expansion offers a longer-term growth avenue: Walmart has broadened its Better Care Services platform into a healthcare marketplace connecting customers with third-party providers. The initiative could increase customer engagement, but its financial contribution is not yet clear. Walmart launched a healthcare services marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory concerns remain: DoorDash’s proposed $17 billion acquisition of Instacart is intended partly to strengthen competition with Walmart and Amazon in local commerce and grocery delivery. Separately, the FTC is seeking information from Walmart about the use of personal data in personalized pricing, creating potential compliance and reputational risks. FTC orders Walmart and others to share pricing data information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation comparisons could limit upside: Walmart trades at a substantially higher earnings multiple than Target, while commentary suggests Walmart’s comparable-sales growth may be moderating. That premium leaves the stock more exposed if growth expectations weaken. Target trades at a fraction of Walmart’s valuation

Walmart Company Profile

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.