Centaurus Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Centaurus Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,984 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,774 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,526,238,000 after acquiring an additional 328,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.0%

WMT opened at $114.22 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $95.42 and a one year high of $135.15. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $908.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total transaction of $1,435,203.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $69,074,186.76. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Mizuho set a $130.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.65.

Walmart 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.