265,717 Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Bought by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 779,272 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 265,717 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $80,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 129.1% in the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 3,945 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 111,309 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 10.9% during the third quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 13,239 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Finally, Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 68,062 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 6,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of WMT stock traded up $2.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $110.71. 7,647,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,170,961. The firm has a market capitalization of $878.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.58. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.88 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its 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. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total transaction of $1,399,912.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,106,293.92. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total transaction of $416,595.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 618,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,562,863.19. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,219 shares of company stock worth $8,604,429. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Broker raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.74.

Walmart 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.