Walmart Inc. $WMT Position Boosted by Logan Capital Management Inc.

Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,737 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,728 shares during the quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 188.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. DA Davidson set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $140.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $141.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart’s head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $120.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $125.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $958.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.43 and a 12-month high of $135.15. 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 (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 687,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,821,522.52. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 117,008 shares of company stock worth $14,492,704. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.