Sei Investments Co. Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,823,413 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 87,570 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $226,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. 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 bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $109.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $870.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.36, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.60. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total transaction of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% 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 sold 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed an outperform rating on Walmart and set a $137 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels and helping support sentiment. Benzinga report on RBC rating reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is being described as a solid growth stock, with articles citing above-average financial growth and positioning that could help it outperform the market. Zacks growth stock article
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart partnered with ReturnPro to refurbish and resell returned items, a move that could improve e-commerce margins, recover value from returns, and reduce waste. Yahoo Finance ReturnPro partnership article

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.