Welch & Forbes LLC Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMTFree Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 535,229 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,858 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $59,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $1,709,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $104,182,000 after buying an additional 28,026 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,855,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its position in shares of Walmart by 466.6% in the third quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 13,343 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 10,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,415,423 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $157,692,000 after buying an additional 113,952 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares in the company, valued at $71,607,543.76. This trade represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 137,008 shares of company stock valued at $17,048,504 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial set a $140.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

View Our Latest Research Report on Walmart

Walmart News Summary

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Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $115.75 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.43 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The stock has a market cap of $922.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMTGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)

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