Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Now Covered by Analysts at TD Cowen

TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) in a research report released on Friday,Zacks reports. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WMT. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Walmart from $141.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.41.

Walmart Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $123.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $979.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.40. Walmart has a 12 month low of $98.88 and a 12 month high of $135.15.

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. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total value of $416,595.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 618,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,562,863.19. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total value of $1,582,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 634,790 shares in the company, valued at $76,555,674. This represents a 2.03% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

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

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

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

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.