Guardian Capital LLC Makes New $1.84 Million Investment in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Guardian Capital LLC opened a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter, buying 16,519 shares worth about $1.84 million. Walmart now makes up roughly 1.6% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Walmart, with analysts assigning an overall Buy rating and a consensus price target of $138.88. Recent targets range as high as $150, reflecting expectations for continued growth.
• Walmart recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.74 EPS on $190.66 billion in revenue, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share. The stock was trading around $131.45, near its 52-week high.

Guardian Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,519 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,840,000. Walmart accounts for about 1.6% of Guardian Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,709,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 63,782 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,567,000 after acquiring an additional 9,061 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer's stock worth $104,182,000 after acquiring an additional 28,026 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners lifted its stake in Walmart by 466.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 13,343 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 10,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,077,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 target price on Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 target price on Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $137.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $150.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.88.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WMT opened at $131.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.43 and a fifty-two week high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.Walmart's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. 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 year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS and other analysts expect Walmart to deliver another strong quarter, helped by resilient grocery demand, e-commerce growth, and advertising momentum, which could support the stock if results meet or exceed expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Walmart’s consistent sales growth should be rewarded by the market, reinforcing the view that WMT remains a defensive growth name ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also highlights Walmart as a long-term growth and momentum stock, with investors continuing to search for the name ahead of the report.
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart said it will host its first-quarter earnings conference call on May 21, keeping attention focused on upcoming results and guidance rather than any new business update. Walmart To Host First Quarter Earnings Conference Call May 21, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: One bearish analysis argued that expectations may be too high versus Walmart’s own guidance, warning that reported sales growth may not be enough to justify a further move higher and that investors may want to trim positions.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $2,460,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,023,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,780,812.39. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,203,571.56. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 167,195 shares of company stock worth $20,975,804 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Profile

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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