Castleark Management LLC Sells 18,540 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Castleark Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 85,500 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 18,540 shares during the quarter. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth about $26,000. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in Walmart by 267.8% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 323 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $116.70 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $79.81 and a one year high of $116.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $930.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $179.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.15 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $120.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $122.00 target price (up previously from $118.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $130.00 price target on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,374,843.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 879,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,160,621.25. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $746,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,289 shares in the company, valued at $14,535,221.85. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 128,013 shares of company stock worth $13,553,747 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.