Greenspring Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Greenspring Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 259.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,782 shares during the period. Greenspring Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 3.4%

WMT stock opened at $116.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.43 and a twelve month high of $135.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $930.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.98.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, 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 transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 687,287 shares in the company, valued at $83,821,522.52. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. HSBC downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $122.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $140.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating on Walmart and raised its price target to $145, implying meaningful upside and reinforcing the view that the company’s scale and execution remain strong. BTIG Research reaffirms Buy on Walmart
• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial also lifted its price target on Walmart to $155, citing the retailer’s AI-driven platform shift and digital expansion, which suggests analysts still see Walmart as a long-term growth story. Tigress Financial raises Walmart price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Walmart with Target and highlighted Walmart’s defensive profile, strong scale, and upper-income customer gains. These pieces are more supportive of the investment case than directly market-moving. Walmart vs. Target long-term hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart-backed OnePay is expanding beyond the retailer’s ecosystem, which could broaden the fintech business over time, but the impact on WMT shares is indirect for now. OnePay expansion
• Negative Sentiment: A class action lawsuit over Walmart’s Massachusetts hiring practices adds legal and compliance risk, with allegations that the company improperly requires criminal history disclosure and honesty tests. Walmart hiring practices lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Another lawsuit tied to allegedly contaminated SpaghettiOs sold at Walmart raises product-liability concerns, which could weigh on investor sentiment even if the case is isolated. SpaghettiOs lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon overtaking Walmart for the top spot in the Fortune 500 is a symbolic setback, underscoring Amazon’s faster revenue growth and intensifying competition in retail. Amazon overtakes Walmart in Fortune 500

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.