Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 3,956 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Walmart by 1.5%, selling 3,956 shares and owning 260,709 shares worth approximately $25.49 million, making Walmart its 18th largest holding.
• Multiple hedge funds adjusted their positions in Walmart, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its stake by 0.8%, now owning over 425 million shares valued at nearly $37.4 billion.
• Walmart reported a miss in earnings for the last quarter, posting $0.68 per share against an expected $0.74, and had a revenue of $169.34 billion, lower than the anticipated $174.02 billion.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,709 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,956 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 0.8% of Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $25,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,395,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,154 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 397,264.9% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,496,702,000 after purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 30.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 30,874,987 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,710,665,000 after buying an additional 387,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,188,142 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,562,427,000 after buying an additional 823,020 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Walmart from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.38.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $103.03 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $99.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.92. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.98 and a 52-week high of $106.11. The company has a market cap of $821.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total value of $403,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,052,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $106,255,856.80. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total value of $214,214.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 623,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,750,895.66. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,816 shares of company stock valued at $13,073,594. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.

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