Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) EVP Latriece Watkins Sells 10,000 Shares

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) EVP Latriece Watkins sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $1,214,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 108,294 shares in the company, valued at $13,153,389.24. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $125.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.81 and a twelve month high of $134.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $119.55 and its 200 day moving average is $109.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The business had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after buying an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,526,238,000 after acquiring an additional 328,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 target price on Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.53.

Walmart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company-level catalyst — Walmart announced a new share-buyback alongside other large firms; buyback authorizations boost EPS potential and reduce share count over time. 3 Major Buybacks Just Dropped—Here’s the Signal Investors See
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Telsey raised its WMT target to $140 and kept an Outperform rating; BTIG reiterated a Buy and price-target lift headlines reinforce upside expectations. Telsey Advisory Sees Walmart Strengthening Position • BTIG Reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals — Walmart’s U.S. segment delivered ~4.6% comp growth (grocery traffic + e‑commerce strength), supporting FY27 outlook and the recent earnings beat that investors cheered. WMT’s U.S. Segment Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Market share/consumer trends — A dunnhumby tracker shows Walmart’s U.S. household penetration rising (reported at ~72%), evidence of resilient demand and pricing/affordability positioning versus traditional grocers. Walmart, Dollar Stores Beat Traditional Grocers’ Reach
• Neutral Sentiment: Street commentary — Additional analyst notes and bank commentary (Erste Group) provide perspective on FY outlook but don’t materially change consensus; they keep focus on execution and margin trends. Erste Group Bank Comments on Walmart FY2028 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Multiple senior executives (CEO John Furner and two EVPs) disclosed sizable stock sales this week, which can create short‑term sentiment pressure even if sales are often for diversification or tax reasons. SEC filings: CEO Form 4, EVP Christopher Nicholas Form 4, EVP Latriece Watkins Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/headline risk — Walmart flagged labor-market nuances and mentioned a “hiring recession” context in broader commentary, which could signal consumer fragility ahead and temper cyclically sensitive spending. Walmart Warns of “Hiring Recession”

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.