Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Price Target to $131.00

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $137.00 to $131.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 26.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on Walmart in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.24.

Walmart Stock Down 9.2%

Shares of WMT opened at $103.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $826.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61. Walmart has a 52-week low of $95.42 and a 52-week high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,834,416.90. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,389,402. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,455,131,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,905,655,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 188.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth $796,677,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.94 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remained strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38% and global membership revenue grew 17%. Gross-profit margin also improved, helped partly by tariff-related benefits. Walmart revenue growth release
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook and expects to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to support price cuts, potentially strengthening Walmart’s value proposition with financially pressured shoppers. Walmart tariff refund price cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts view the selloff as a potential entry point, citing Walmart’s scale, international operations, digital growth, advertising business and margin gains. However, its roughly 36 times earnings valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Walmart post-earnings buying opportunity
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales increased just 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Investors interpreted the result as evidence that higher energy costs and inflation are forcing consumers to reduce or reprioritize spending. Reuters Walmart sales miss article
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter guidance was below Wall Street expectations: EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus an estimated $0.68, and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus approximately $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce quarterly sales growth by more than 100 basis points. Investopedia Walmart guidance article
• Negative Sentiment: Gordon Haskett downgraded Walmart from “buy” to “accumulate,” reinforcing concerns that the stock’s premium valuation is vulnerable to slower U.S. sales growth and margin pressure from price investments.

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.