Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Decreases Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 97.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 944 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 38,944 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Walmart were worth $92,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,091,126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $497,771,000 after purchasing an additional 42,645 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 177,561 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $17,362,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 12.3% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 285,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $27,956,000 after buying an additional 31,210 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth $5,367,770,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth $11,501,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.57, for a total transaction of $2,127,411.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,334,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,958,228.79. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total value of $746,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,535,221.85. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 158,013 shares of company stock worth $16,657,847 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (up previously from $118.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $111.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Walmart from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.55.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $112.59 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $897.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.52. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.81 and a 1 year high of $112.65.

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

Walmart 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.