Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Down 1.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) traded down 1.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $104.72 and last traded at $105.29. 41,380,293 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 124% from the average session volume of 18,464,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $111.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $129.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $120.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $130.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.55.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $839.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $103.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.78, for a total value of $1,414,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 892,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,241,073.20. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.75, for a total transaction of $431,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,044,455 shares in the company, valued at $112,540,026.25. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,888 shares of company stock worth $13,835,383. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 219,573 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,276,000 after buying an additional 30,412 shares during the last quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 2,750 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.