Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.83% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $123.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Thirty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.74.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $133.89 on Thursday. Walmart has a 12-month low of $79.81 and a 12-month high of $134.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $1.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 46.81, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The firm had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Analysts expect that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total value of $746,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,535,221.85. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total value of $1,374,843.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 879,815 shares in the company, valued at $92,160,621.25. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 229,196 shares of company stock valued at $26,957,858 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,526,238,000 after acquiring an additional 328,229 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target to $140 and kept an Outperform stance, citing a solid Q4 outlook — this helped underpin investor optimism. Oppenheimer price target increased
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage-driven buying: reports noted WMT trading higher after analyst upgrades, which can attract short-term flows ahead of earnings. Walmart trading higher after upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Telsey Advisory reaffirmed an Outperform and set a $135 target, reinforcing the buy-side narrative that execution improvements (esp. e‑commerce/AI) justify support. Telsey reaffirmation
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst projections and previews (Zacks) suggest key metrics point to a likely beat on some lines, but they highlight modest growth — expectations are elevated going into Q4. Zacks analyst projections
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart will host its Q4 earnings call on Feb. 19 — this event is the immediate catalyst for volatility as investors weigh AI-driven margin commentary against guidance. Earnings call announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: PRIMECAP trimmed its stake slightly — notable as an institutional action but not large enough to indicate a major shift in ownership stance. PRIMECAP trims stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary (Reuters) frames Walmart amid broader AI-driven volatility — investors are watchful for any guidance or AI-related execution risks discussed on the call. Wall St week ahead
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece downgraded WMT, arguing the stock trades at a rich ~50x blended P/E despite execution gains from AI — valuation concerns could cap upside if growth disappoints. Seeking Alpha downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Estée Lauder filed suit alleging counterfeit products sold via Walmart’s marketplace — potential reputational, legal, and marketplace-control implications that investors will watch closely. Estée Lauder sues Walmart

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.