The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Stock

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target upped by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $101.00 to $114.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.75% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $96.8190 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.58. The stock has a market cap of $772.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart has a one year low of $75.01 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,655 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.38, for a total transaction of $166,128.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 647,578 shares in the company, valued at $65,003,879.64. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total transaction of $403,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,052,455 shares in the company, valued at $106,255,856.80. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 88,841 shares of company stock valued at $8,565,205. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 397,264.9% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,496,702,000 after purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth $5,367,770,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth $2,532,331,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 9,648.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,123,138,000 after buying an additional 11,368,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.