Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 3.3% to 590,793 shares (worth $65.82M) in Q4, while other large investors — including Vanguard, AQR and Amundi — also materially increased positions; institutional investors hold 26.76% of the stock.
• Walmart slightly beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and issued FY2027 guidance of 2.75–2.85 EPS, and Wall Street maintains an overall Buy consensus with an average price target of $137.79.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares and EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares, with insiders offloading 263,376 shares worth $32.85M in the past 90 days.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 590,793 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 18,837 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $65,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after purchasing an additional 7,614,172 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Walmart by 20.5% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,413,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004,277 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $294,621,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 1,991.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,549,719 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $249,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427,834 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total value of $9,430,445.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 402,072 shares in the company, valued at $49,772,492.88. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.27, for a total value of $2,445,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 506,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,962,034.28. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 263,376 shares of company stock worth $32,851,650 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMT shares. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $136.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $147.00 target price (up from $120.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $137.79.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $127.59 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $125.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.39. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $134.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The business's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart's payout ratio is presently 36.13%.

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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