Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Bought by S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 59.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,455 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,903 shares during the quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,036,646 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,297,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,781 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter worth $7,455,131,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 6.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,142,040 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,497,493,000 after buying an additional 1,681,353 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter valued at $2,905,655,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 44.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,355,463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Guggenheim set a $130.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.74.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart Connect is broadening its reach beyond Walmart’s own platforms. The retailer is partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery, Spotify and Yahoo to let advertisers use Walmart shopper data across linear television, streaming audio and connected TV. The expansion could increase high-margin advertising revenue and improve Walmart’s digital profit mix. How Is Walmart Turning Shopper Data Into a Bigger Advertising Business?
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight strong Walmart Connect momentum. Connect revenue reportedly grew 43% excluding VIZIO, while e-commerce, membership and delivery growth are helping improve the economics of Walmart’s digital business. These higher-margin businesses support the view that Walmart is becoming more than a low-margin retailer. Can Walmart Connect Keep Powering WMT’s Digital Profit Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is helping develop a new AI-agent commerce protocol. Meta and Sierra announced an open standard, with Walmart among the participating companies, that would allow consumers’ AI agents to interact with businesses. Walmart could benefit if the protocol increases automated shopping and customer engagement. Meta and Sierra Launch Protocol for AI Agents to Interact With Businesses
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity suggested bullish speculative interest, with traders purchasing nearly twice Walmart’s average daily call volume. Options activity can support short-term sentiment but does not change the company’s underlying fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Rising interest rates above 5% could pressure consumer spending, financing costs and richly valued growth-oriented stocks. Walmart’s defensive grocery exposure may help, but its approximately 39 price-to-earnings ratio leaves less room for disappointment.

Walmart Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $108.22. The company had a trading volume of 8,055,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,222,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.88 and a 1-year high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $858.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.64.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $309,285.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 566,253 shares in the company, valued at $60,390,882.45. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total value of $1,399,912.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This represents a 1.99% 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. Insiders sold 81,219 shares of company stock valued at $8,604,429 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ: WMT) is a multinational retailer that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and wellness products, household essentials and general merchandise. Walmart also provides services such as grocery pickup and delivery, pharmacy services, financial products and digital advertising.

The company serves customers through its Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club segments.