Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Buys 15,806 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,414 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 15,806 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,223,116,000 after buying an additional 5,856,468 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 94,557,532 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,199,712,000 after acquiring an additional 263,718 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,367,770,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 31,973,329 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,126,775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Walmart by 23.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 19,493,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,902,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710,506 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart joined the trillion?dollar market?cap club, boosting investor confidence that its investments in e?commerce, tech and higher?margin services are being rewarded. Walmart Trillion-Dollar Club (Fool)
• Positive Sentiment: Evidence of accelerating Walmart+ paid?membership adoption supports a path to more recurring, higher?margin revenue — a key part of the bull thesis. Walmart paid membership growth (Seeking Alpha)
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying (e.g., Alecta boosting its stake) is a vote of confidence from some money managers and can support the stock at higher levels. Alecta boosts stake in Walmart (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Retail commentator Tim Bohen flagged Walmart among his “Big 3” long?term AI/retail ideas, reinforcing positive retail investor narratives. The Big 3: BE, WMT, XPO (YouTube)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is tilted positive but consensus targets are near current prices; recent quarterly results beat estimates and FY?26 EPS guidance is modest — upside now depends on continued execution. Zacks: Earnings ESP for retailers
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling (EVP Donna Morris and others disclosed multi?million dollar stock sales this week) can create short?term selling pressure or be read as executives monetizing gains. Walmart insider selling (InsiderTrades)
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk from Amazon’s physical grocery/fulfillment push and Walmart’s elevated multiples mean any slowdown in sales or margin mix could trigger a pullback. Amazon grocery competition (Reuters)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Donna Morris sold 76,181 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total value of $9,430,445.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 402,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,772,492.88. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.99, for a total value of $1,574,868.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 727,155 shares in the company, valued at $87,251,328.45. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 229,196 shares of company stock valued at $26,957,858 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NASDAQ WMT opened at $131.18 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $79.81 and a one year high of $131.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.44 and a 200 day moving average of $107.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.87, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The firm had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. CICC Research started coverage on Walmart in a report on Friday, December 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Thirty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.06.

About Walmart

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.