Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Montrusco Bolton Investments boosted its stake in Walmart by 6.5% in Q4 to 598,835 shares (an increase of 36,451 shares), valuing the position at about $66.72 million and representing roughly 0.8% of the firm's portfolio.
• Insiders have been selling: Director C. Douglas McMillon sold 19,416 shares and CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares (both under Rule 10b5‑1 plans), and insiders have sold 263,376 shares worth ~$32.85 million over the past 90 days.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive—Walmart carries a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $137.79 after several firms raised targets following a quarterly beat and FY27 guidance.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 598,835 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 36,451 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for approximately 0.8% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $66,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 20.5% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,413,236,000 after acquiring an additional 4,004,277 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer's stock worth $44,898,368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835,200 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $294,621,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1,991.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,549,719 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $249,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427,834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.21, for a total value of $2,566,989.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,193,995 shares in the company, valued at $554,488,078.95. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.84, for a total value of $1,638,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 674,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,162,384.08. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,851,650. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 9th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.79.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

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

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $129.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.59 and a 200-day moving average of $117.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.42, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart's quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

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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