Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 367,864 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its Walmart stake by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 367,864 shares and leaving it with 3,016,959 shares valued at about $336.1 million.
• Walmart reported quarterly earnings of $0.66 per share, matching estimates, while revenue came in at $177.75 billion, above analyst expectations and up 7.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on Walmart, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $138.85, though one recent downgrade trimmed some optimism.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,016,959 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 367,864 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 1.0% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $336,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after buying an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $121.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.66. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $93.62 and a one year high of $135.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $963.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 128,986 shares of company stock worth $15,927,908 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $137.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.85.

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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