S Harris Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. $WMT

S Harris Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,143 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $907,000. Walmart comprises 0.9% of S Harris Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 188.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after purchasing an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,385 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.83, for a total transaction of $165,964.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 633,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,946,336.72. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $1,308,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 117,246 shares of company stock worth $14,493,147. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 18th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $141.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $117.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $124.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $932.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The company had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.