Arizona State Retirement System Sells 53,724 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,228,207 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 53,724 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 0.7% of Arizona State Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Walmart were worth $136,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the third quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 322 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company released its 2026 Annual Report highlighting investments in associates and AI tools aimed at improving customer experience, operations and productivity — messaging that supports longer-term growth prospects. Walmart Touts People and AI in Annual Report
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat revenue and EPS expectations and management set FY27 EPS guidance, showing underlying sales and margins resilience — a supportive signal for fundamentals. WMT MarketBeat summary
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $140, and the consensus analyst rating remains a “Buy” — these represent catalyst potential if upgrades continue. Morgan Stanley Increases Walmart Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic initiatives that could drive sales mix and margins: a major redesign of the Great Value private label (10,000 items) and expansion of health offerings via Better Care Services. Those moves support SKU refresh and higher-margin services. Is Walmart One of the Best Performing Dow Stocks?
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart is diversifying beyond retail (new Upstream Facility Services maintenance unit) — a long-term revenue diversification that is unlikely to move near-term earnings materially. Walmart Diversifies Beyond Retail Into Maintenance Services
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting is effectively meaningless in the latest print (reported as zero), so short-covering dynamics are not a current driver. Short Interest Data
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and cash-flow concerns: several commentary pieces argue WMT is expensive (high P/E) given slowing growth and heavy capital expenditure that suppresses free cash flow — these critiques are the most likely reason traders are taking profits after recent gains. Walmart: Too Expensive Considering Slowing Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Another analysis highlights that large capex to support technology and store initiatives is weighing on free cash flow, raising near-term margin and valuation risk for investors. Speculative Valuation As Free Cash Flow Is Held Down By Immense Capex

Walmart Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $129.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $134.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.92.

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. The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.21, for a total transaction of $2,566,989.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,193,995 shares in the company, valued at $554,488,078.95. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.72, for a total value of $361,688.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 596,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,334,117.76. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 263,376 shares of company stock valued at $32,851,650 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Walmart from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $150.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.79.

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.