Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Given New $146.00 Price Target at BNP Paribas Exane

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from $147.00 to $146.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $1.81 on Friday, hitting $119.53. 9,287,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,004,393. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $952.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart has a 1 year low of $93.43 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares in the company, valued at $62,203,571.56. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.77, for a total transaction of $167,212.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 635,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,023,275.61. The trade was a 0.20% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,983 shares of company stock worth $13,908,797. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 188.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating on Walmart and raised its price target to $145, suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s Q1 results showed resilient demand, with revenue of $177.75 billion topping estimates, while global e-commerce sales rose 26% and advertising revenue jumped 37%. Business Wire article
• Positive Sentiment: The company is still benefiting from value-oriented shopping trends, with consumers turning to Walmart for groceries and essentials as budgets tighten. Wall Street Journal article
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart also sought tariff refunds, alongside other major retailers, which may help offset some import-related costs but does not materially change the core earnings outlook. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are reacting to weak second-quarter and full-year guidance, which came in below Wall Street expectations and overshadowed the earnings beat. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Management said higher gas prices are hurting customers’ wallets, which could slow discretionary spending and increase cost pressure for Walmart if fuel prices remain elevated. Yahoo Finance article

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.