Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Trading Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) were up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $133.47 and last traded at $133.34. Approximately 17,085,232 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 25,997,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $131.45.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage are increasingly constructive on Walmart ahead of earnings, citing strong e-commerce growth, market-share gains, and the potential for another solid quarter. Walmart Stock: Here’s Why Analysts Are Raising Price Targets Before Q1 Earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: UBS reaffirmed a Buy rating and kept its bullish view on Walmart’s growth prospects, which supports sentiment heading into the earnings release. Jim Cramer Says “Walmart’s Among the Greatest Companies in Our Era”
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is being viewed as a beneficiary of tariffs, inflation, and tighter consumer budgets, since shoppers tend to trade down to value-focused retailers in weaker spending environments. Scale, online push and loyalty fees: how Walmart won the year of the tariffs
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are watching Walmart’s earnings for its commentary on inflation, gas prices, and consumer spending trends, which could move the stock depending on the tone of the outlook. Walmart Earnings Will Offer a Read on the Consumer
• Neutral Sentiment: Higher gas prices may shift more shoppers toward warehouse clubs and away from discretionary spending, a mixed signal for retail stocks overall. Higher Gas Prices Have Consumers Visiting Costco, Sam’s Club More: What The Data Shows
• Negative Sentiment: Target’s post-earnings selloff is reminding investors that even strong retail results can be punished if guidance or expectations disappoint, which may create caution around Walmart’s report. Target Is Melting Down Today. Should Walmart and Costco Stockholders Worry?
• Negative Sentiment: Walmart EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,250 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, adding a small insider-sale headline that could slightly weigh on sentiment. SEC Form 4 filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. HSBC downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $131.00 in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.88.

Walmart Stock Down 2.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 36.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total transaction of $2,555,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,203,571.56. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.72, for a total transaction of $361,688.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 596,008 shares in the company, valued at $74,334,117.76. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 167,190 shares of company stock valued at $20,975,838. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Services boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 10,909 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 4,089 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 9,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 27,220 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

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.