Walmart Inc. $WMT Stock Position Raised by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,860 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.5% of Payden & Rygel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,036,646 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,297,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,781 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth $7,455,131,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,142,040 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,497,493,000 after buying an additional 1,681,353 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth $2,905,655,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Walmart by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 20,796,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,355,463,000 after buying an additional 6,393,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.40. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $98.88 and a one year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $979.90 billion, a PE ratio of 44.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $113.00 to $136.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $141.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.41.

Key Stories 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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $349,740.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 563,353 shares in the company, valued at $67,940,371.80. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 618,359 shares in the company, valued at $64,562,863.19. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 102,244 shares of company stock valued at $11,112,044 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.