Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 136.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,442 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,338 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.5% in the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,416,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a new US$30 billion share repurchase program (after completing ~US$16.1B) and set a ~$0.99 annual dividend for FY27 — a capital‑return push that supports EPS and the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is launching Scintilla In‑Store, a real‑time data platform to help suppliers manage availability and execution — this strengthens Walmart’s data moat and can raise in‑store productivity and margins. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (Bernstein to $134; TD Cowen to $145) reflect confidence in AI‑enabled retail positioning and drove buying interest. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart briefly rejoined the $1 trillion market‑cap club in February, signaling renewed investor enthusiasm that non‑tech mega‑caps can still expand valuation. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported its highest U.S. grocery penetration ever and record e‑commerce penetration, trends that support faster profit growth versus sales. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/sector notes highlight durable momentum in ecommerce, advertising and fulfillment, but also point to some post‑earnings profit‑taking — mixed near‑term read for shares. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Media comparisons with peers (Costco, Dollar General) keep investor focus on where Walmart sits on margins, membership dynamics and valuation — useful context but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Walmart CEO John Furner sold 13,125 shares — an insider sale that can create short‑term headlines and be interpreted as a modest negative signal. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 price target on Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Walmart from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total value of $4,158,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,082,852. This represents a 6.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $9,430,445.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 402,072 shares in the company, valued at $49,772,492.88. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 261,903 shares of company stock valued at $31,496,959. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $125.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.89, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.81 and a 1 year high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The firm had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.31%.

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.