Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 511,950 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 63.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,312,905 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 511,950 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $163,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Group LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 9,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 27,220 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,033,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,561 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 sale 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, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total value of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their position. 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 a total of 100,730 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,624 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Walmart’s reported deal for Vibe.co strengthens its advertising strategy and could support long-term revenue growth, helping investors see the company as more than just a low-margin retailer. Prediction: Walmart Will Rejoin the $1 Trillion Club by 2027. Here’s Why It’s a Great Buy Now.
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is expanding Shapermint into 1,600 more stores nationwide, adding another growth initiative outside core grocery sales and reinforcing its push into higher-margin apparel and lifestyle categories. Walmart (WMT) Expands Shapermint Into 1,600 More Stores Nationwide
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Walmart’s long-term scale and growth prospects suggests the stock remains attractive for investors who believe its advertising, marketplace, and omnichannel businesses can expand profits over time. Walmart vs. Target: Which Stock Offers Better Long-Term Value?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Walmart with rivals like Target and Amazon, reflecting investor focus on competitive positioning rather than a clear new catalyst for earnings. Walmart Wants to Turn the Living Room Into a Storefront
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the largest U.S. retailer by GMV and commentary that Walmart has fallen out of the $1 trillion club may weigh on sentiment, but these were framed more as strategic context than immediate fundamental damage. Amazon Unseats Walmart as Top US Retailer

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $115.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.17. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $920.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial set a $140.00 target price on Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Walmart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.85.

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.