Burnham & Co LLC Acquires New Shares in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Burnham & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,972 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $903,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,451,000. Advisortrust Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 11,283 shares in 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 during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 2.9% in 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 period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,676,000 after purchasing an additional 81,635 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s Sparky AI shopping assistant reportedly generates 40% higher customer spending among users, while the company is also integrating AI into advertising and exploring technology partnerships with OpenAI and ChatGPT. These efforts could lift conversion, basket sizes and future digital-advertising revenue. Walmart Sparky AI article
• Positive Sentiment: The launch of Scenario, a women’s fashion brand with most products priced below $25, is designed to attract younger, trend-conscious shoppers and strengthen Walmart’s position in apparel. Its value pricing may help the retailer compete more directly with Amazon. Walmart Scenario fashion brand article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts’ consensus price target of approximately $128 remains well above recent trading levels, suggesting some Wall Street analysts view the selloff as excessive. Walmart also exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue expectations and raised its full-year sales-growth outlook to 4%-5%.
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart is rolling out NFC tap-to-pay across U.S. stores and clubs, improving checkout convenience and aligning with broader mobile-wallet adoption. The change may support engagement but is unlikely to materially alter near-term earnings. Walmart NFC rollout article
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales increased only 2.6%, below the 3.8% consensus estimate and representing Walmart’s slowest comparable-sales growth in six years. Higher gasoline prices and broader economic pressure may be making consumers more cautious, despite the earnings beat. Walmart comparable-sales miss article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon’s share of U.S. clothing spending doubled to 17% in 2025 from 8.5% in 2019, while Walmart’s share edged lower. The widening gap raises concerns about Walmart’s ability to gain share in an important retail category. Amazon and Walmart clothing-share article
• Negative Sentiment: Commentators argue WMT still trades at a premium valuation—roughly 36 times forward earnings—despite decelerating growth and cautious consumer trends. That leaves less room for disappointment and has amplified the post-earnings decline.

Walmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMT opened at $105.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.93. 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 $838.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 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 0.41.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on Walmart in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $113.00 price target on Walmart in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.34, for a total value of $308,386.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 569,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,523,730.02. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,064 shares of company stock valued at $6,697,788. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.