EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,703 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $16,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,395,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,154 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,922,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 30,874,987 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,710,665,000 after purchasing an additional 387,424 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 29,843,892 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,696,396,000 after purchasing an additional 233,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Walmart by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,188,142 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,562,427,000 after purchasing an additional 823,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $110.59.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on WMT
Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart
In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $216,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 626,118 shares in the company, valued at $61,547,399.40. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.55, for a total value of $1,293,468.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 919,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,586,075.95. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,182 shares of company stock worth $11,504,227. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.
Walmart Stock Up 0.8%
Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $97.74 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.30 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $779.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.26.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.06). Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.
Walmart Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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