Walmart Inc. $WMT Shares Bought by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 156,394 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,988 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 0.5% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $17,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,458,529,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,626,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,526,238,000 after purchasing an additional 328,229 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total value of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. The trade was a 0.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,986 shares of company stock valued at $15,927,908. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $150.00 price target on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $150.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $121.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $963.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $125.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.62 and a 12 month high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. On average, research 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.