Walmart Inc. $WMT Stock Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 3,466.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,755,296 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,678,044 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 2.2% of International Assets Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $286,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth $6,451,000. Advisortrust Partners LLC raised its position in Walmart by 20.2% during the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,344,000 after buying an additional 11,283 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Walmart during the second quarter valued at $7,455,131,000. HORAN Wealth LLC raised its position in Walmart by 55.7% during the first quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,931,000 after buying an additional 29,184 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in Walmart by 282.9% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 119,865 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,456,000 after acquiring an additional 88,562 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.9%

Walmart stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.88 and a 12 month high of $135.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.40. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.58.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel Bartlett sold 3,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total transaction of $416,595.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 618,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,562,863.19. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel Danker sold 50,644 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.35, for a total value of $5,335,345.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 201,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,246,145.20. This represents 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 three months, insiders sold 102,244 shares of company stock worth $11,112,044. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $113.00 to $136.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Freedom Broker raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $132.41.

Walmart Company Profile

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.