Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 28.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 986,787 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 399,718 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $122,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its position in Walmart by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.56.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,230,306.77. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 67,729 shares of company stock worth $8,124,931 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $111.20 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $884.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.60. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $95.42 and a one year high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.