Meiji Yasuda America Inc Invests $8.59 Million in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 77,124 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $8,592,000. Walmart comprises 2.0% of Meiji Yasuda America Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 188.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. HSBC downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.08, for a total value of $1,628,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 661,037 shares in the company, valued at $82,021,470.96. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.77, for a total transaction of $167,212.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 635,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,023,275.61. This trade represents a 0.20% 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. Insiders sold 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NASDAQ WMT opened at $120.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.66. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.43 and a 52-week high of $135.15. The company has a market cap of $958.95 billion, a PE ratio of 42.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Wing drone delivery to seven new U.S. metro areas, with service expected to reach more than 270 stores and potentially over 40 million Americans by next year. The move reinforces Walmart’s last-mile advantage and could improve delivery speed and customer convenience. Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery As Last Mile Story Takes Flight
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart introduced a new Prepaid Consolidation service aimed at making its supply chain more efficient, which should help suppliers move goods faster and support the company’s everyday-low-price strategy. Lower logistics friction can be a margin tailwind over time. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Focused on Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency with New Service
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s head of growth said AI is reshaping its advertising strategy, suggesting the retailer sees more room to monetize its platform through higher-value digital ads. That could support revenue growth beyond core retail. Walmart’s head of growth says AI is rewriting the rules for its fast-growing ads business
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are reducing the time needed for workers to unload trucks point to continued automation gains in the distribution network, which may improve efficiency and labor productivity. Walmart’s AI-powered warehouses are slashing the time it takes store employees to unload trucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart presented at Evercore’s consumer and retail conference, but no major new financial guidance or transformational update was highlighted in the article. Walmart Inc. (WMT) Presents at The 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary appears mixed on Walmart alongside other consumer staples names, suggesting sentiment is not universally bullish despite the company’s operational progress. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Walmart (WMT), Campbell Soup (CPB) and JM Smucker (SJM)

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.