Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $10.30 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 18.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,900 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,709 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,526,238,000 after purchasing an additional 328,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.83, for a total value 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 $75,946,336.72. This trade represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 100,730 shares of company stock worth $12,444,624 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $137.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $114.60 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.54 and a 200 day moving average of $122.22. 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 firm has a market cap of $912.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.21, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.60.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. 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, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

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.