Busey Bank Sells 4,879 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Busey Bank lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 5.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 81,457 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,879 shares during the period. Busey Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 253.3% during the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 384,034 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,728,000 after acquiring an additional 275,337 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,416,580 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,333,000 after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,676,000 after purchasing an additional 81,635 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Walmart by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,010,886 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $104,182,000 after purchasing an additional 28,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $40,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s aggressive price cuts are being viewed as a strategy to win inflation-weary shoppers and strengthen its grocery leadership, which analysts and commentators say could support sales volume and customer loyalty. Walmart stock gains after price cuts as analysts back grocery strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces framed Walmart as a blue-chip retail winner in volatile markets, with its scale, dividend, and resilient business model making it a preferred defensive name for investors. 3 Blue-Chip Retail Stocks to Trust as Volatility Favors Quality
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and others characterized the recent pullback in WMT as a buying opportunity, suggesting investors may be looking past near-term volatility and focusing on Walmart’s durable earnings profile. Jim Cramer calls Walmart selloff an ‘incredible buying opportunity,’ says fears ‘have gone out the window’
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart is also being compared favorably with Target and other retailers on revenue consistency and scale, reinforcing its quality profile but without a clear new catalyst. Walmart and Target: Comparing Revenue Consistency and Scale
• Neutral Sentiment: Trump’s public praise for Walmart’s price cuts has added visibility to the stock, but the move is still fundamentally about pricing strategy rather than a direct financial update. President Trump says Walmart will lower prices by ‘a lot’ — but the retail beast has already been slashing prices
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles warned that deeper discounting could pressure margins, and Walmart also faces ongoing legal headlines, including a $13 million driver-pay settlement and a new AI-related lawsuit. Walmart (WMT) Pays $13 Million To Settle Driver Pay Case As New AI Suit Lands

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total transaction of $413,891.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,074,186.76. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 104,505 shares of company stock worth $12,858,514. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMT opened at $113.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.07 and a 200-day moving average of $122.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $900.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.60.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. Walmart’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $141.00 price target on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, April 20th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus 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.