Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $147.00 to $132.00. The stock had previously closed at $114.30, but opened at $106.38. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walmart shares last traded at $104.0670, with a volume of 22,416,160 shares trading hands.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Walmart from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Walmart from a “market perform” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson set a $132.00 price target on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $141.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.34, for a total value of $308,386.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 569,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,523,730.02. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 57,064 shares of company stock valued at $6,697,788 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key 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, beating consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remain strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38%, and global membership revenue grew 17%. These trends support the long-term investment case despite slower core-store growth. Walmart second-quarter highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to help lower prices, potentially strengthening its value proposition as consumers become more budget-conscious. The rollout of tap-to-pay, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, may also improve checkout convenience. Walmart tap to pay rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts retained bullish ratings—including buy, outperform, and overweight—but lowered price targets after the earnings release. New targets range from $120 to $140, indicating analysts still see meaningful upside but have moderated their expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5%, marking Walmart’s weakest domestic comparable-sales growth in more than six years. Analysts cited weakness in health and wellness and questioned the trajectory of the core U.S. business.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance fell short of consensus: Walmart projected adjusted EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus $0.68 expected and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus $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.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s elevated valuation increases sensitivity to any slowdown, while higher energy costs and consumer trade-offs are raising broader concerns about the health of U.S. retail spending.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisortrust Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 20.2% in the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,283 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its holdings in Walmart by 253.3% in the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 384,034 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,728,000 after buying an additional 275,337 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,416,580 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,333,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,676,000 after purchasing an additional 81,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HORAN Wealth LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,931,000 after acquiring an additional 29,184 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.26. The firm has a market cap of $825.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted 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 return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%.The business had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.