Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 1,683,376 Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. by purchasing 1,683,376 shares, valued at approximately $147.78 million, making Walmart 0.6% of their investment portfolio.
• Walmart's stock has recently seen varying price targets from analysts, with notable raises, including from Robert W. Baird to $110 and Sanford C. Bernstein to $117, while JPMorgan reduced theirs to $127.
• Insider transactions included EVP John R. Furner's sale of 13,125 shares for approximately $1.26 million, contributing to a trend of insider selling in the last three months.

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,683,376 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $147,784,000. Walmart makes up approximately 0.6% of Strs Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Night Squared LP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,052,000. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 55,004 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,829,000 after acquiring an additional 26,685 shares during the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,107,000. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its stake in Walmart by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 38,213 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,355,000 after buying an additional 9,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Walmart by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,959,752 shares of the retailer's stock worth $698,787,000 after buying an additional 838,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Mizuho reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Walmart from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $112.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,619,848.90. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $380,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,056,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,511,128.70. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 121,382 shares of company stock worth $11,718,441. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $100.54 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.31. The stock has a market cap of $801.61 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.

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