Artemis Investment Management LLP Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 779,272 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 265,717 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $80,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the first quarter worth $29,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Copos Capital S.a r.l. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $309,285.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 566,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,390,882.45. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 3,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total value of $416,595.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 618,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,562,863.19. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 81,219 shares of company stock valued at $8,604,429. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Truist Financial set a $114.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.74.

Walmart Trading Up 2.4%

Walmart stock traded up $2.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $110.71. The company had a trading volume of 7,647,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,170,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.88 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.55. The firm has a market cap of $878.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.58.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc (NASDAQ: WMT) is a multinational retailer that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and wellness products, household essentials and general merchandise. Walmart also provides services such as grocery pickup and delivery, pharmacy services, financial products and digital advertising.

The company serves customers through its Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club segments.