Catalyst Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Catalyst Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,548 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 193.0% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains broadly supportive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target around $138.85, suggesting Wall Street still sees upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s latest earnings showed solid operating momentum, with revenue topping expectations and sales up 7.4% year over year, reinforcing the company’s defensive growth profile.
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Walmart’s e-commerce, marketplace and higher-margin digital initiatives as key reasons bulls remain constructive after the stock’s recent pullback. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Walmart with other retail and wholesale alternatives may be prompting some portfolio rotation, but it does not appear to signal a fundamental change in the business. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart also drew attention for its competition with Amazon in retail data and ad monetization, underscoring a strategic growth area rather than an immediate earnings catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A recent 9.2% pullback and the stock’s move below key moving averages reflect investor caution about fuel costs, consumer pressure and whether near-term margins can keep pace. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by EVP Daniel Bartlett, though conducted under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan and relatively small versus his holdings, can still add to short-term negative sentiment. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 117,246 shares of company stock valued at $14,493,147 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8%

WMT opened at $117.18 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $124.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.07. The company has a market capitalization of $932.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.59. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The business had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Company 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.