Gray Private Wealth LLC Purchases 13,264 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Gray Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,264 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,378,000. Walmart accounts for 0.6% of Gray Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $6,451,000. Advisortrust Partners LLC increased its position in Walmart by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,283 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. HORAN Wealth LLC increased its position in Walmart by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,931,000 after purchasing an additional 29,184 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 282.9% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 119,865 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,456,000 after buying an additional 88,562 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Walmart

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 Trading Up 1.9%

Walmart stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.40. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.88 and a 52 week high of $135.15. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a PE ratio of 44.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 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 earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was 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 owned 563,353 shares in the company, valued at $67,940,371.80. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total transaction of $416,595.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 618,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,562,863.19. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Broker raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Truist Financial set a $114.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Walmart Company Profile

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.