Walmart Inc. $WMT Position Lifted by Investment Partners LTD.

Investment Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,419 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 44.3% during the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $123.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $979.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.23 and a 200-day moving average of $118.40. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.88 and a 1 year high of $135.15.

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

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $575,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 110,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,699,680. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total value of $5,335,345.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,246,145.20. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

About Walmart

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.