Godsey & Gibb Inc. Takes $3.29 Million Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Godsey & Gibb Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 29,525 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,289,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during the 3rd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 322 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.72, for a total value of $361,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 596,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,334,117.76. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total value of $2,555,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 486,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,203,571.56. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders 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 issued reports on WMT shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.64.

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

Walmart Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $129.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 47.30, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $134.69.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is 36.13%.

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.