Walmart Inc. $WMT Holdings Cut by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 97,178 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,455 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.7% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Operose Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 319.7% in the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the 1st quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in Walmart by 432.4% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% in the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.76.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1%

WMT opened at $102.34 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.46 and a 200-day moving average of $95.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $815.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.28 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total transaction of $216,260.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,547,399.40. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $380,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,056,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,511,128.70. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 121,382 shares of company stock worth $11,718,441. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Walmart

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.