Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 5,900 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,900 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is accelerating omnichannel and fulfillment upgrades — testing back‑room staging for same‑day delivery, expanding pickup/delivery infrastructure, and planning 650+ remodels plus ~20 new stores to support faster fulfillment and e‑commerce growth. These moves aim to cut delivery times vs. competitors and monetize store footprint. Walmart Eyes Stores as Warehouse Space for Same-Day Delivery (FT)
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is revamping its Great Value private‑label (nearly 10,000 items) and modernizing stores/marketplace offerings to sharpen value perception and margins — a direct play to capture budget-conscious shoppers and boost private-label profitability. Walmart Revamps ‘Great Value’ Brand (Reuters coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare expansion: Walmart is expanding Better Care Services to include GLP‑1 weight‑management support and integrated virtual care + pharmacy access — a potentially high‑margin, recurring service channel that diversifies revenue beyond retail. Walmart Boosts Growth Playbook With Healthcare, Omnichannel Push
• Positive Sentiment: Market attention and dividend appeal — coverage highlighting Walmart as a reliable dividend/value retailer and a “trending” pick is supporting demand from income and large‑cap investors amid broader market weakness. 3 Dividend Stocks There’s No Need to Second-Guess (Fool)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and Yahoo pieces note high retail investor interest in WMT and summarize prospects — useful for understanding sentiment flow but not a direct catalyst. Walmart Is a Trending Stock (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational risk: a California judge’s price‑fixing claims against Amazon included allegations that Amazon asked vendors to pressure retailers like Walmart to raise prices — any linkage to Walmart could create regulatory or PR headwinds even if Walmart is not a primary target. California says Amazon coerced companies into raising prices (Business Insider)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: an EVP reported a roughly $362k stock sale — small dollar amount relative to Walmart’s market cap, but often noted by investors as a minor caution. Insider Selling: Walmart EVP Sells Stock

Walmart Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ WMT opened at $129.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.44. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $2,313,804.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,274,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,434,589.52. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $4,158,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares in the company, valued at $65,082,852. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 263,376 shares of company stock worth $32,598,466. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $150.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $137.64.

Walmart 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.