Ransom Advisory Ltd Makes New $927,000 Investment in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased 10,562 shares of Walmart Inc. for approximately $927,000 in the first quarter.
• Walmart's recent quarterly earnings missed analysts' estimates, reporting $0.68 EPS against a consensus of $0.74 EPS.
• Walmart's stock has seen significant price target increases from several analysts, with Goldman Sachs raising it to $114.00 and Oppenheimer to $115.00.

Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,562 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $927,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 319.7% in the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% in the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $110.76.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $216,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,118 shares in the company, valued at $61,547,399.40. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total value of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,619,848.90. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 121,382 shares of company stock valued at $11,718,441. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $2.23 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $102.64. 15,893,966 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,623,236. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.37. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $818.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.06). Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.