AXQ Capital LP Acquires New Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,647 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $6,458,529,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 188.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,015,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,436 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Walmart by 20.5% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,413,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating on Walmart and raised its price target to $145, implying meaningful upside and reinforcing the view that the company’s scale and execution remain strong. BTIG Research reaffirms Buy on Walmart
• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial also lifted its price target on Walmart to $155, citing the retailer’s AI-driven platform shift and digital expansion, which suggests analysts still see Walmart as a long-term growth story. Tigress Financial raises Walmart price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Walmart with Target and highlighted Walmart’s defensive profile, strong scale, and upper-income customer gains. These pieces are more supportive of the investment case than directly market-moving. Walmart vs. Target long-term hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart-backed OnePay is expanding beyond the retailer’s ecosystem, which could broaden the fintech business over time, but the impact on WMT shares is indirect for now. OnePay expansion
• Negative Sentiment: A class action lawsuit over Walmart’s Massachusetts hiring practices adds legal and compliance risk, with allegations that the company improperly requires criminal history disclosure and honesty tests. Walmart hiring practices lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Another lawsuit tied to allegedly contaminated SpaghettiOs sold at Walmart raises product-liability concerns, which could weigh on investor sentiment even if the case is isolated. SpaghettiOs lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon overtaking Walmart for the top spot in the Fortune 500 is a symbolic setback, underscoring Amazon’s faster revenue growth and intensifying competition in retail. Amazon overtakes Walmart in Fortune 500

Walmart Trading Up 3.4%

Walmart stock opened at $116.89 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.43 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $930.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.79 and a 200 day moving average of $120.98. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total transaction of $166,381.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 636,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,369,743.09. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.96, for a total value of $1,600,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 687,287 shares in the company, valued at $83,821,522.52. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 117,008 shares of company stock worth $14,492,704 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

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.