Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Sold by Darwin Wealth Management LLC

Darwin Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 85.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,350 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14,246 shares during the quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 328,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is rolling out more wellness benefits at Sam’s Club, including Weight Watchers perks, which could deepen member loyalty, support renewals, and boost recurring membership revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is also getting attention for broad price cuts across groceries and household staples, which should help reinforce its reputation as a defensive, inflation-fighting retailer and drive traffic to stores and clubs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer said Walmart is one of the “greatest companies on earth” and called the recent pullback an “incredible buying opportunity,” helping support sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Walmart’s health event and its AI shopping efforts highlights longer-term strategic investments, but these items are more thematic than immediate catalysts for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Walmart’s AI shopping race with Amazon underscores competitive pressure in retail tech, but it does not point to any near-term operational setback for Walmart. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 18th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total transaction of $413,891.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares in the company, valued at $69,074,186.76. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.84, for a total transaction of $1,638,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 674,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,162,384.08. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,505 shares of company stock worth $12,858,514. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.90. 12,452,368 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,901,888. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $906.43 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.60. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.96.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The company had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.