Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price Up 2.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) shot up 2.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $106.60 and last traded at $106.49. Approximately 33,481,408 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 25,672,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.70.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity suggests increased bullish positioning: investors purchased 166,747 call options, roughly 33% above Walmart’s typical daily call volume.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is rolling out Tap to Pay and NFC contactless checkout across U.S. stores and clubs. The move could improve checkout convenience, support mobile-wallet adoption and strengthen customer engagement as digital sales and membership activity expand. Walmart NFC Rollout Accelerates the Move to Wallet-Based Checkout
• Positive Sentiment: The company is launching Scenario, a fashion brand featuring mostly sub-$25 products, to attract younger shoppers and compete more directly with Amazon in apparel. Walmart Aims to Take On Amazon With Trendier Apparel
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results provided fundamental support: adjusted EPS of $0.81 exceeded the roughly $0.74 consensus, revenue increased nearly 6% to $187.94 billion, and full-year sales guidance was raised to 4%-5% growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart-owned Flipkart is gaining ground against India’s quick-commerce leaders, offering another potential long-term growth avenue. Two years after launch, Walmart’s Flipkart is closing in on India’s quick-commerce leaders

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 price target (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Walmart Stock Up 2.7%

The company has a market cap of $847.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,299 shares in the company, valued at $70,834,416.90. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,064 shares of company stock valued at $6,697,788. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 boosted its stake 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. Peterson Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,931,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.