Qtron Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Qtron Investments LLC lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,296 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,350 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 0.7% of Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 193.0% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 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: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart’s head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total transaction of $166,381.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 636,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,369,743.09. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $150.00 target price on Walmart in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $120.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $958.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.66. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.43 and a 12-month high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

About Walmart

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.