Christopher James Nicholas Sells 2,900 Shares of Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 569,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,523,730.02. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher James Nicholas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 18th, Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $342,751.00.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $103.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $825.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.61. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.42 and a twelve month high of $135.15. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $113.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.26.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after buying an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart News Summary

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.88.

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.