Silphium Asset Management Ltd Trims Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Silphium Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,614 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,465 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.1% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Silphium Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,898,368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,298,623 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,153,176,000 after acquiring an additional 634,211 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Walmart by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 27,268,463 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,810,288,000 after acquiring an additional 934,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,990,692 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,575,541,000 after acquiring an additional 93,459 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total value of $2,391,274.56. Following the sale, the director owned 4,213,406 shares in the company, valued at $518,923,082.96. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.84, for a total value of $1,638,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 674,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,162,384.08. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 263,376 shares of company stock worth $32,598,466. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMT opened at $129.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.30, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.44. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.13%.

Key Walmart News

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Walmart from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Craig Hallum set a $150.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.