Arax Advisory Partners Sells 197,808 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Arax Advisory Partners lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 67.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,955 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 197,808 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Walmart were worth $10,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Walmart by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,526,238,000 after purchasing an additional 328,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. DA Davidson set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $121.04 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.62 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $963.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $125.28 and a 200-day moving average of $121.66.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. 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 research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.96, for a total value of $1,600,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 687,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,821,522.52. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. The trade was a 0.50% 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 sold 128,986 shares of company stock worth $15,927,908. 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.