Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lowered its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 42.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 405,451 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 294,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Walmart were worth $42,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.1% in the first quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,443 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 9,577 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Bernicke Wealth Management Ltd. increased its position in Walmart by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bernicke Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 12,548 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,306 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $967,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Walmart from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Walmart from $147.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $132.41.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Energy investment expands Walmart’s customer offerings: Walmart is making a strategic investment in Base Power and will offer the company’s home battery systems to Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members beginning in November. The systems are designed to reduce energy costs and provide backup power, creating a potential new customer benefit while expanding Walmart’s ecosystem beyond traditional retail. Walmart and Base Power announce strategic agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Major automation agreement with Symbotic: Walmart expanded its commercial relationship with warehouse-automation provider Symbotic in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion. Greater automation could improve fulfillment capacity, labor efficiency and inventory management, although the investment also carries execution and capital-spending risks. Symbotic stock jumps on Walmart automation deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals continue to support the stock: Walmart’s latest quarterly results exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising year over year. Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight earnings growth and price strength as reasons to remain constructive on WMT. Earnings growth and price strength make Walmart a stock to watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare expansion offers a longer-term growth avenue: Walmart has broadened its Better Care Services platform into a healthcare marketplace connecting customers with third-party providers. The initiative could increase customer engagement, but its financial contribution is not yet clear. Walmart launched a healthcare services marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory concerns remain: DoorDash’s proposed $17 billion acquisition of Instacart is intended partly to strengthen competition with Walmart and Amazon in local commerce and grocery delivery. Separately, the FTC is seeking information from Walmart about the use of personal data in personalized pricing, creating potential compliance and reputational risks. FTC orders Walmart and others to share pricing data information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation comparisons could limit upside: Walmart trades at a substantially higher earnings multiple than Target, while commentary suggests Walmart’s comparable-sales growth may be moderating. That premium leaves the stock more exposed if growth expectations weaken. Target trades at a fraction of Walmart’s valuation

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.88 and a 52-week high of $135.15. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a PE ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $110.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.40.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total value of $1,399,912.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 647,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total value of $5,335,345.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 201,672 shares in the company, valued at $21,246,145.20. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock worth $11,112,044 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc NASDAQ: WMT operates a global retail business through a network of supercenters, supermarkets, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its stores and websites sell a broad assortment of merchandise, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness products, apparel, electronics, home goods, toys and other general merchandise.

The company organizes its operations into Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam's Club U.S. Walmart U.S.

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