Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shares rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $116.03 and last traded at $113.10. Approximately 24,815,588 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 25,432,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.65.

Walmart Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $884.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $115.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.03.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The company had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.08, for a total transaction of $1,628,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 661,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,021,470.96. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total transaction of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% 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. Insiders sold 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its position in Walmart by 193.0% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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.