Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Purchased by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 304,826 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 1.7% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Walmart were worth $29,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after buying an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 219,573 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,276,000 after acquiring an additional 30,412 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 11.4% in the first quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 2,750 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.8% during the first quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.78, for a total transaction of $1,414,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 892,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,241,073.20. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.58, for a total transaction of $167,205.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 642,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,937,193.04. The trade was a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 133,888 shares of company stock valued at $13,835,383 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 6.4%

WMT stock opened at $107.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $853.40 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.67. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.81 and a 12 month high of $109.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.97.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.