Advocate Group LLC Trims Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. by 11.7%, now holding 25,598 shares valued at approximately $2.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC, have increased their positions in Walmart, indicating positive market sentiment.
• Analysts retain a Moderate Buy consensus rating for Walmart, with a target price averaging around $112.38 despite the company recently reporting earnings that missed expectations.

Advocate Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,598 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,378 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 19.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 697,204 shares of the retailer's stock worth $68,228,000 after buying an additional 115,634 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth about $221,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 7.8% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 394,784 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,602,000 after buying an additional 28,423 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc grew its position in Walmart by 6.1% during the second quarter. Asset Planning Inc now owns 3,717 shares of the retailer's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 6,489 shares of the retailer's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $112.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.38.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $101.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $812.10 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.67. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.37 and a 1-year high of $106.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $101.22 and a 200 day moving average of $97.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,700,258.82. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total value of $403,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,052,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $106,255,856.80. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,232 shares of company stock worth $15,083,877. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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