SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC Buys Shares of 21,220 Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC initiated a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter, buying 21,220 shares worth about $2.36 million. The stake represents roughly 0.8% of its portfolio and makes Walmart its 17th-largest holding.
• Walmart continues to attract significant institutional interest, with multiple funds adding shares and 26.76% of the stock now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. At the same time, insider selling has been active, including recent sales by CEO John Furner and EVP Latriece Watkins.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Walmart, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85. The company also recently reported earnings that met expectations, with revenue above estimates and quarterly sales up 7.4% year over year.

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,220 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,000. Walmart accounts for about 0.8% of SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $1,709,000. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer's stock worth $30,676,000 after purchasing an additional 81,635 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer's stock worth $104,182,000 after purchasing an additional 28,026 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $40,855,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 466.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 13,343 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 10,988 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.08, for a total transaction of $1,628,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 661,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,021,470.96. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 117,008 shares of company stock worth $14,492,704. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on Walmart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.85.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart's head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart's AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ WMT opened at $120.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $958.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.66. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.43 and a 12 month high of $135.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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