Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Purchases 133,670 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 1,165.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,140 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 133,670 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,455,131,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter worth approximately $2,905,655,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth $796,677,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,607,297 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,107,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,525,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,355,463,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Energy investment expands Walmart’s customer offerings: Walmart is making a strategic investment in Base Power and will offer the company’s home battery systems to Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members beginning in November. The systems are designed to reduce energy costs and provide backup power, creating a potential new customer benefit while expanding Walmart’s ecosystem beyond traditional retail. Walmart and Base Power announce strategic agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Major automation agreement with Symbotic: Walmart expanded its commercial relationship with warehouse-automation provider Symbotic in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion. Greater automation could improve fulfillment capacity, labor efficiency and inventory management, although the investment also carries execution and capital-spending risks. Symbotic stock jumps on Walmart automation deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals continue to support the stock: Walmart’s latest quarterly results exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising year over year. Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight earnings growth and price strength as reasons to remain constructive on WMT. Earnings growth and price strength make Walmart a stock to watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare expansion offers a longer-term growth avenue: Walmart has broadened its Better Care Services platform into a healthcare marketplace connecting customers with third-party providers. The initiative could increase customer engagement, but its financial contribution is not yet clear. Walmart launched a healthcare services marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory concerns remain: DoorDash’s proposed $17 billion acquisition of Instacart is intended partly to strengthen competition with Walmart and Amazon in local commerce and grocery delivery. Separately, the FTC is seeking information from Walmart about the use of personal data in personalized pricing, creating potential compliance and reputational risks. FTC orders Walmart and others to share pricing data information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation comparisons could limit upside: Walmart trades at a substantially higher earnings multiple than Target, while commentary suggests Walmart’s comparable-sales growth may be moderating. That premium leaves the stock more exposed if growth expectations weaken. Target trades at a fraction of Walmart’s valuation

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.66, for a total value of $1,399,912.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 647,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,106,293.92. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total value of $349,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 563,353 shares in the company, valued at $67,940,371.80. The trade was a 0.51% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,534 shares of company stock worth $10,692,443. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Capital raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $130.00 price target on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $123.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $110.23 and its 200-day moving average is $118.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.88 and a 12 month high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The business had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) operates a global retail business through a network of supercenters, supermarkets, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its stores and websites sell a broad assortment of merchandise, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness products, apparel, electronics, home goods, toys and other general merchandise.

The company organizes its operations into Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club U.S. Walmart U.S.