Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 119,210 Walmart Inc. $WMT

Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 119,210 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $13,281,000. Walmart makes up about 10.3% of Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in Walmart by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 18th. Craig Hallum set a $150.00 price objective on Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group set a $141.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $140.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 577,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,607,543.76. This trade represents a 0.50% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 117,246 shares of company stock valued at $14,493,147. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $117.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $932.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.60. 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 50 day simple moving average is $124.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.11. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. 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, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.