Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys New Shares in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 11,747 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,330,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 193.0% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.42 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $887.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.83.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s 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, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total value of $413,891.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 630,009 shares in the company, valued at $69,074,186.76. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% 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 71,439 shares of company stock valued at $8,544,532 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $142.00 price target on shares of Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.56.

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.