Directional Asset Management Purchases Shares of 51,348 Walmart Inc. $WMT

Directional Asset Management purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 51,348 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,721,000. Walmart accounts for approximately 5.0% of Directional Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 188.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after buying an additional 7,614,172 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Walmart by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,413,236,000 after buying an additional 4,004,277 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,835,200 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $294,621,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1,991.9% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart News Summary

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,335 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.63, for a total transaction of $166,381.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 636,843 shares in the company, valued at $79,369,743.09. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total transaction of $2,555,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 486,764 shares in the company, valued at $62,203,571.56. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 263,376 shares of company stock worth $32,851,650 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $129.92 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.92. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month 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 firm 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 (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The firm had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.79.

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.