Schear Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 7,798 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 51.4% in Q4, adding 7,798 shares to hold 22,975 shares valued at $2.56 million (about 1.1% of the fund's portfolio).
• Walmart beat quarterly expectations with $0.74 EPS (vs. $0.73) and $190.66B revenue (vs. $188.37B), issued FY27 EPS guidance of 2.75–2.85, and retains an average analyst "Buy" rating with a $137.79 price target.
• Insiders sold 263,376 shares (~$32.85M) over the past 90 days, and some commentators flag Walmart's high P/E (~47.4) and heavy capex as risks to near-term free cash flow and valuation.

Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 51.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,975 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.1% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Schear Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $1,709,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 24.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,175,703 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $121,168,000 after buying an additional 229,220 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.6% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 63,782 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,567,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $104,182,000 after buying an additional 28,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.2% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 293,866 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $30,286,000 after buying an additional 14,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $129.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $134.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total value of $166,381.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 636,843 shares in the company, valued at $79,369,743.09. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total transaction of $2,555,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,851,650 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart News Roundup

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America started coverage on Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $147.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $137.79.

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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