Walmart Inc. $WMT Holdings Reduced by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Key Points

• Franklin Street Advisors reduced its Walmart stake by 6.8% in the second quarter, selling 10,609 shares and retaining 145,952 shares valued at approximately $16.53 million.
• Other major institutions increased or initiated positions, including Norges Bank, AQR Capital Management, Geode Capital, Capital International Investors and Vanguard. Institutional investors collectively own 26.76% of Walmart.
• Walmart reported revenue growth of 7.4% year over year and met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.66. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $138.56 versus the stock’s reported opening price of $111.85.

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,952 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 10,609 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Walmart were worth $16,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 188.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer's stock worth $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer's stock worth $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $111.85 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.67. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.42 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $890.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.61. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $142.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.56.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,439 shares of company stock worth $8,544,532. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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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