Voya Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,572,381 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 28.6% in Q1, acquiring an additional 1,572,381 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 7 million shares valued at around $620 million.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets for Walmart, with Oppenheimer updating it to $115 and Telsey Advisory Group to $118, reflecting a positive outlook with a consensus rating of "Buy."
• Walmart's recent quarterly earnings reported earnings per share of $0.68, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.74, with revenue of $169.34 billion, below expectations of $174.02 billion.

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,068,645 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,572,381 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Walmart worth $620,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 319.7% during the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the 1st quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $110.76.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $102.64 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $818.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.61 and a 200 day moving average of $95.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.Walmart's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,655 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.38, for a total transaction of $166,128.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 647,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,003,879.64. The trade was a 0.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.97, for a total transaction of $1,863,353.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,392,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $421,594,770.45. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 121,382 shares of company stock worth $11,718,441. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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