Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Has $1.59 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 60.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,290 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22,074 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,709,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 24.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,175,703 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $121,168,000 after purchasing an additional 229,220 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Walmart by 16.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 63,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 9,061 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Walmart by 2.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $104,182,000 after purchasing an additional 28,026 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Walmart by 5.2% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 293,866 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,286,000 after buying an additional 14,487 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $124.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $994.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.05. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.81 and a 52-week 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.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.96, for a total transaction of $1,600,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 687,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,821,522.52. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 10,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $1,214,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 108,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,153,389.24. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,278 shares of company stock valued at $33,825,793. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. HSBC lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $122.00 to $131.00 in a report on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Craig Hallum set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price target (up from $120.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

Walmart Company 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.