United Community Bank Has $1.62 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

United Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 46.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,550 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,583 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,298,623 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,153,176,000 after buying an additional 634,211 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 27,268,463 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,810,288,000 after buying an additional 934,468 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,990,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,575,541,000 after buying an additional 93,459 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Argus upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $137.79.

Walmart Stock Up 0.3%

Walmart stock opened at $128.01 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $134.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The firm had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A large institutional buyer increased its Walmart stake by 406,400 shares, signaling confidence from a professional investor and adding buying pressure to the stock. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Boosts Walmart Stake by 406,400 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary ties rising consumer confidence to better demand for large retailers, listing Walmart among recommended buys — a potential tailwind for sentiment and multiple expansion. Buy Walmart and 3 More Retail Stocks as Consumer Confidence Surges
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart opened a $350M, company?owned milk processing plant in Robinson, Texas, adding >400 jobs and strengthening its vertically integrated supply chain — a move that can improve margins and product reliability over time. Walmart Opens Third Owned and Operated Milk Processing Facility in Robinson, Texas, Creating More Than 400 New Jobs
• Positive Sentiment: Management is restructuring store leadership (eliminating store lead role, expanding higher?paid manager/coach roles) and doubling down on fashion/private labels — positioned as a productivity and margin?enhancing pivot that appears to be supporting the recent share rally. Walmart Reshapes Store Leadership And Fashion Push As Shares Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage details elimination of the store lead role and new high?pay managerial tracks; useful for monitoring execution risk and labor costs but not an immediate revenue driver on its own. Walmart eliminates store lead positions as managers making $400K stay for longer
• Neutral Sentiment: A supplier, Axil Brands, expanded product listings at Walmart — positive for assortment breadth but primarily a modest revenue/traffic benefit at the supplier level rather than a material Walmart catalyst. Axil Brands Climbs After Deepening Walmart Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: NBPure launched an exclusive health product at Walmart — expands private?label/partner assortment and convenience for shoppers, but likely a small, incremental sales contributor. NBPure Launches Exclusive MagO7 60-Count at Walmart, Expanding Access to Its Best-Selling Gut Cleanse

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $4,158,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,082,852. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $2,460,201.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,023,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,780,812.39. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,851,650 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.