Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 1,602,944 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 35.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,889,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,602,944 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Walmart were worth $297,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,367,770,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 9,648.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,123,138,000 after purchasing an additional 11,368,549 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,223,116,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,468 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 19,493,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,902,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $273,784,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4%

WMT stock opened at $123.80 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $79.81 and a one year high of $134.69. The stock has a market cap of $986.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $121.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $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. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 36.13%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,203,571.56. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total value of $4,158,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,082,852. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,703 shares of company stock valued at $34,140,843. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

About Walmart

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.