26,857 Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Sold by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 7.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 343,690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 26,857 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 1.0% of Profund Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $35,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth $7,455,131,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,905,655,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $796,677,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Walmart by 54.0% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,607,297 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,107,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,525,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Walmart by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,355,463,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393,326 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: 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $123.51 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.88 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.23 and a 200-day moving average of $118.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $979.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.58.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total value of $5,335,345.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 201,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,246,145.20. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $575,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,699,680. This trade represents a 4.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Walmart 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.