Cibc World Market Inc. Acquires 281,454 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• CIBC World Markets Inc. increased its Walmart stake by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 281,454 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 2.42 million shares valued at about $269.6 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Walmart, with several analysts reiterating Buy or Outperform ratings and lifting price targets; the stock’s consensus rating is still “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $138.85.
• Walmart’s latest earnings met EPS expectations at $0.66 and topped revenue estimates at $177.75 billion, while the company also reported 7.4% year-over-year revenue growth and gave FY2027 EPS guidance of 2.75–2.85.

Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,419,441 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 281,454 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $269,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,198 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13,515 shares in the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 259.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC now owns 10,782 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 7,782 shares during the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,520 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Walmart by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 4,100 shares of the retailer's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 3,634 shares of the retailer's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $147.00 target price (up from $120.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $137.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.85.

Walmart Trading Up 3.4%

WMT stock opened at $116.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $125.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.98. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.43 and a 52 week high of $135.15. The company has a market capitalization of $930.22 billion, a PE ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.59.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $177.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart'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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total value of $359,368.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 577,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.96, for a total transaction of $1,600,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 687,287 shares in the company, valued at $83,821,522.52. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 117,008 shares of company stock valued at $14,492,704 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating on Walmart and raised its price target to $145, implying meaningful upside and reinforcing the view that the company’s scale and execution remain strong. BTIG Research reaffirms Buy on Walmart
• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial also lifted its price target on Walmart to $155, citing the retailer’s AI-driven platform shift and digital expansion, which suggests analysts still see Walmart as a long-term growth story. Tigress Financial raises Walmart price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Walmart with Target and highlighted Walmart’s defensive profile, strong scale, and upper-income customer gains. These pieces are more supportive of the investment case than directly market-moving. Walmart vs. Target long-term hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart-backed OnePay is expanding beyond the retailer’s ecosystem, which could broaden the fintech business over time, but the impact on WMT shares is indirect for now. OnePay expansion
• Negative Sentiment: A class action lawsuit over Walmart’s Massachusetts hiring practices adds legal and compliance risk, with allegations that the company improperly requires criminal history disclosure and honesty tests. Walmart hiring practices lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Another lawsuit tied to allegedly contaminated SpaghettiOs sold at Walmart raises product-liability concerns, which could weigh on investor sentiment even if the case is isolated. SpaghettiOs lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon overtaking Walmart for the top spot in the Fortune 500 is a symbolic setback, underscoring Amazon’s faster revenue growth and intensifying competition in retail. Amazon overtakes Walmart in Fortune 500

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.

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