Sei Investments Co. Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. boosted its Walmart stake by 5.0% in the first quarter, adding 87,570 shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,823,413 shares worth about $226.6 million.
• Walmart reported quarterly earnings of $0.66 per share, matching estimates, while revenue of $177.75 billion topped forecasts and rose 7.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on the stock: several analysts reiterated buy or outperform ratings, with a consensus Moderate Buy and an average price target of $138.85.

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,823,413 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 87,570 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $226,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed an outperform rating on Walmart and set a $137 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels and helping support sentiment. Benzinga report on RBC rating reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is being described as a solid growth stock, with articles citing above-average financial growth and positioning that could help it outperform the market. Zacks growth stock article
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart partnered with ReturnPro to refurbish and resell returned items, a move that could improve e-commerce margins, recover value from returns, and reduce waste. Yahoo Finance ReturnPro partnership article

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total value of $413,891.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,074,186.76. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares in the company, valued at $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $109.33 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $117.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.09. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.29 and a twelve month high of $135.15. The stock has a market cap of $870.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.36, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. UBS Group set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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