Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Acquires 133,670 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 1,165.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,140 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,670 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $123.51 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.88 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.40.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial set a $114.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Walmart News Summary

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

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total transaction of $5,335,345.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,246,145.20. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total value of $416,595.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 618,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,562,863.19. This trade represents a 0.64% 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. Insiders sold 98,534 shares of company stock valued at $10,692,443 in the last ninety days. 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.