Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT – Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 716,625 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,266 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $79,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 9,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 27,220 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Advocacy Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,561 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.
Key Walmart News
Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
- Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
- Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart’s head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
- Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
- Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)
Walmart Stock Down 0.1%
Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Walmart
Insider Transactions at Walmart
In related news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of 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 117,008 shares of company stock worth $14,492,704 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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