CX Institutional Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

CX Institutional cut its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 24.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,046 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16,902 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Advisortrust Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,283 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA boosted its stake in Walmart by 253.3% in the 1st quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 384,034 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,728,000 after purchasing an additional 275,337 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Walmart by 2.9% during the 1st 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 stake in Walmart by 42.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HORAN Wealth LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,931,000 after purchasing an additional 29,184 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Advertising expansion: Walmart completed its acquisition of Vibe.co, a self-service streaming-TV advertising platform. Integrating the company into Walmart Connect should give advertisers more tools to plan, purchase and measure connected-TV campaigns, potentially strengthening Walmart’s higher-margin advertising business. Walmart Finalizes Purchase of TV Ad Platform Vibe.co
• Positive Sentiment: New growth initiatives: Walmart is expanding drone delivery in Florida through Alphabet’s Wing and offering GLP-1 weight-loss prescriptions with nutrition coaching and AI-based support. These initiatives could improve delivery competitiveness and broaden Walmart’s healthcare opportunity, although their near-term financial impact remains uncertain. Walmart Launches Florida Drone Delivery And GLP 1 Weight Loss Prescriptions
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term case remains intact: Commentators continue to cite Walmart’s scale, e-commerce investments, advertising growth and dividend stability as reasons to hold the stock over the long term. However, these are broad investment views rather than new earnings catalysts. Is Walmart a Good Long-Term Investment?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade and valuation concerns: Oppenheimer downgraded Walmart ahead of its upcoming earnings report, arguing that the stock’s “peakish valuation” leaves it vulnerable to a lower re-rating if U.S. comparable-sales growth slows. With Walmart trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, investors may demand strong guidance and continued momentum. Walmart Downgraded Ahead of Earnings

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.83. The stock has a market cap of $887.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.42 and a 12 month high of $135.15.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded Walmart from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 626,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,834,416.90. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,439 shares of company stock valued at $8,544,532 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.