Walmart Inc. $WMT Stock: Vise Technologies Inc. Raises Stake

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 8.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 472,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,507 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $49,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total value of $349,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 563,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,940,371.80. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares in the company, valued at $69,106,293.92. The trade was 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Freedom Broker raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Walmart from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $132.41.

Walmart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Energy investment expands Walmart’s customer offerings: Walmart is making a strategic investment in Base Power and will offer the company’s home battery systems to Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members beginning in November. The systems are designed to reduce energy costs and provide backup power, creating a potential new customer benefit while expanding Walmart’s ecosystem beyond traditional retail. Walmart and Base Power announce strategic agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Major automation agreement with Symbotic: Walmart expanded its commercial relationship with warehouse-automation provider Symbotic in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion. Greater automation could improve fulfillment capacity, labor efficiency and inventory management, although the investment also carries execution and capital-spending risks. Symbotic stock jumps on Walmart automation deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals continue to support the stock: Walmart’s latest quarterly results exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising year over year. Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight earnings growth and price strength as reasons to remain constructive on WMT. Earnings growth and price strength make Walmart a stock to watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare expansion offers a longer-term growth avenue: Walmart has broadened its Better Care Services platform into a healthcare marketplace connecting customers with third-party providers. The initiative could increase customer engagement, but its financial contribution is not yet clear. Walmart launched a healthcare services marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory concerns remain: DoorDash’s proposed $17 billion acquisition of Instacart is intended partly to strengthen competition with Walmart and Amazon in local commerce and grocery delivery. Separately, the FTC is seeking information from Walmart about the use of personal data in personalized pricing, creating potential compliance and reputational risks. FTC orders Walmart and others to share pricing data information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation comparisons could limit upside: Walmart trades at a substantially higher earnings multiple than Target, while commentary suggests Walmart’s comparable-sales growth may be moderating. That premium leaves the stock more exposed if growth expectations weaken. Target trades at a fraction of Walmart’s valuation

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $123.51 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.88 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $110.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.40. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.58. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%. The business had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) operates a global retail business through a network of supercenters, supermarkets, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its stores and websites sell a broad assortment of merchandise, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness products, apparel, electronics, home goods, toys and other general merchandise.

The company organizes its operations into Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club U.S. Walmart U.S.