Walmart Inc. $WMT Stock Position Raised by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,107 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,603 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 397,264.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,496,702,000 after buying an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,367,770,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 9,648.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,486,374 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,123,138,000 after acquiring an additional 11,368,549 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,817,510 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,223,116,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Walmart by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 19,493,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,902,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710,506 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $120.00 target price on Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.69.

Walmart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst backing: Walmart’s recent quarterly beat and FY‑2026 EPS guidance provide an earnings-supportive backdrop, and multiple analysts maintain buy/outperform views — a tailwind for longer-term investor confidence.
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO insider sale — routine but notable: CEO C. Douglas McMillon sold 19,416 shares on Dec. 26 (avg price $111.83). The sale is relatively small (≈0.45% reduction) and follows prior periodic sales; investors often view such filings as liquidity/tax planning rather than a signal of deteriorating fundamentals. Insider Trades
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent flow to adtech/ecommerce: a former head of membership & business development at Walmart Business joined Teikametrics as SVP of Strategy — a reminder of Wal‑Mart alumni moving into the wider e‑commerce/AI ecosystem, which can both diffuse company-specific know‑how and broaden industry innovation. BusinessWire
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased investor attention: Zacks notes Walmart as a trending stock — higher retail interest can raise liquidity and volatility but doesn’t change fundamentals by itself. Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Website and app outage — immediate operational risk: thousands of customers reported inability to access Walmart’s app and website on Dec. 30, per Downdetector and press reports. Temporary outages during peak shopping periods can dent e‑commerce sales, frustrate customers, and attract short‑term selling pressure. PYMNTS WSJ
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and crowding risk: Walmart is trading at a high earnings multiple relative to history (~39x reported), which can limit upside and make the stock more sensitive to any growth or margin disappointments in 2026.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $166,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 641,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,039,471. This trade represents a 0.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.21, for a total transaction of $460,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,031,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,833,930.55. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 125,628 shares of company stock valued at $13,690,065. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $111.92 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $79.81 and a one year high of $117.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $108.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.86. The company has a market capitalization of $892.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.64.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $179.50 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.580-2.630 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.