AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its Walmart stake by 12.4% in Q4, adding 47,772 shares to hold 434,136 shares valued at roughly $48.36 million.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus "Buy" rating (2 Strong Buy, 30 Buy, 2 Hold) and an average price target of $137.79, with several firms raising targets as high as $150.
• Walmart beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.74 on $190.66B revenue) and set FY27 EPS guidance of 2.75–2.85, but faces valuation and free-cash-flow concerns (P/E ~47.4) alongside significant insider selling (~263,376 shares, ~$32.9M) and heavy capex.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 434,136 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 47,772 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Walmart were worth $48,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in Walmart by 212.6% in the third quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 322 shares of the retailer's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $150.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 target price on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $147.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $137.79.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company released its 2026 Annual Report highlighting investments in associates and AI tools aimed at improving customer experience, operations and productivity — messaging that supports longer-term growth prospects. Walmart Touts People and AI in Annual Report
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat revenue and EPS expectations and management set FY27 EPS guidance, showing underlying sales and margins resilience — a supportive signal for fundamentals. WMT MarketBeat summary
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $140, and the consensus analyst rating remains a "Buy" — these represent catalyst potential if upgrades continue. Morgan Stanley Increases Walmart Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic initiatives that could drive sales mix and margins: a major redesign of the Great Value private label (10,000 items) and expansion of health offerings via Better Care Services. Those moves support SKU refresh and higher-margin services. Is Walmart One of the Best Performing Dow Stocks?
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart is diversifying beyond retail (new Upstream Facility Services maintenance unit) — a long-term revenue diversification that is unlikely to move near-term earnings materially. Walmart Diversifies Beyond Retail Into Maintenance Services
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting is effectively meaningless in the latest print (reported as zero), so short-covering dynamics are not a current driver. Short Interest Data
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and cash-flow concerns: several commentary pieces argue WMT is expensive (high P/E) given slowing growth and heavy capital expenditure that suppresses free cash flow — these critiques are the most likely reason traders are taking profits after recent gains. Walmart: Too Expensive Considering Slowing Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Another analysis highlights that large capex to support technology and store initiatives is weighing on free cash flow, raising near-term margin and valuation risk for investors. Speculative Valuation As Free Cash Flow Is Held Down By Immense Capex

Walmart Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $129.92 on Monday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $125.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.02. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $134.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The firm had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart's payout ratio is 36.13%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.27, for a total value of $2,445,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 506,764 shares in the company, valued at $61,962,034.28. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $9,430,445.99. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 402,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,772,492.88. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,851,650. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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