Gibbs Wealth Management Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Gibbs Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 55.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,181 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,705 shares during the quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after purchasing an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $592,848,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating on Walmart and raised its price target to $137, signaling meaningful upside potential from current levels. Benzinga report on RBC rating
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlight Walmart as a wide-moat and growth stock, pointing to durable competitive advantages and steady financial growth that can support investor confidence. Wide-moat stocks article
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart announced a partnership with ReturnPro to refurbish and resell returned products, which could improve e-commerce efficiency, recover losses from returns, and reduce waste. Yahoo Finance ReturnPro partnership article
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage on Walmart’s dividend history may attract income-focused investors, but it does not appear to be a new catalyst for the stock today. TheStreet dividend article
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical commentary notes Walmart’s extended downturn could set up a possible rebound, but this is more of a sentiment/valuation call than a fundamental change. MSN comeback article
• Negative Sentiment: RBC and other market commentary suggest Walmart may report a softer fiscal Q2 as lower-income shoppers remain under pressure, raising concerns about near-term sales momentum. Yahoo Finance softer Q2 article
• Negative Sentiment: One article argues Walmart has lagged the market over the past several months, with recent softer results contributing to investor caution. Yahoo Finance stock falls article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.08, for a total value of $1,628,550.00. Following 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 position. 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 67,729 shares of company stock valued at $8,124,931 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.9%

WMT opened at $108.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.18 and a 200 day moving average of $122.06. The company has a market cap of $862.66 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.60. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.35 and a 12 month high of $135.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Walmart 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.