Brighton Jones LLC Purchases 19,549 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,421 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,549 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.6% of Brighton Jones LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $16,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 188.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Walmart by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,413,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004,277 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,898,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835,200 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $294,621,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1,991.9% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,549,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $249,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427,834 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $129.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $134.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.44.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total value of $166,381.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 636,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,369,743.09. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.84, for a total value of $1,638,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 674,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,162,384.08. This represents a 1.91% 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 sold a total of 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,598,466 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $128.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $136.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.64.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is accelerating omnichannel and fulfillment upgrades — testing back‑room staging for same‑day delivery, expanding pickup/delivery infrastructure, and planning 650+ remodels plus ~20 new stores to support faster fulfillment and e‑commerce growth. These moves aim to cut delivery times vs. competitors and monetize store footprint. Walmart Eyes Stores as Warehouse Space for Same-Day Delivery (FT)
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart is revamping its Great Value private‑label (nearly 10,000 items) and modernizing stores/marketplace offerings to sharpen value perception and margins — a direct play to capture budget-conscious shoppers and boost private-label profitability. Walmart Revamps ‘Great Value’ Brand (Reuters coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare expansion: Walmart is expanding Better Care Services to include GLP‑1 weight‑management support and integrated virtual care + pharmacy access — a potentially high‑margin, recurring service channel that diversifies revenue beyond retail. Walmart Boosts Growth Playbook With Healthcare, Omnichannel Push
• Positive Sentiment: Market attention and dividend appeal — coverage highlighting Walmart as a reliable dividend/value retailer and a “trending” pick is supporting demand from income and large‑cap investors amid broader market weakness. 3 Dividend Stocks There’s No Need to Second-Guess (Fool)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and Yahoo pieces note high retail investor interest in WMT and summarize prospects — useful for understanding sentiment flow but not a direct catalyst. Walmart Is a Trending Stock (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational risk: a California judge’s price‑fixing claims against Amazon included allegations that Amazon asked vendors to pressure retailers like Walmart to raise prices — any linkage to Walmart could create regulatory or PR headwinds even if Walmart is not a primary target. California says Amazon coerced companies into raising prices (Business Insider)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: an EVP reported a roughly $362k stock sale — small dollar amount relative to Walmart’s market cap, but often noted by investors as a minor caution. Insider Selling: Walmart EVP Sells Stock

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.