Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Acquires 75,351 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1,226.6% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 75,351 shares and bringing its total ownership to 81,494 shares, valued at approximately $7.97 million.
• Walmart's quarterly earnings, reported on August 21st, missed expectations with earnings per share of $0.68, below the consensus estimate of $0.74, while revenue was reported at $169.34 billion, falling short of the expected $174.02 billion.
• An average price target for Walmart's stock is set at $112.03, with a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, although JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently lowered its target from $130 to $127.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1,226.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,494 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 75,351 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 319.7% during the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during the 1st quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% during the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm'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 approximately $106,255,856.80. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Suresh Kumar sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.47, for a total transaction of $3,104,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,787,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,921,584. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,232 shares of company stock valued at $14,960,635. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $112.03.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $102.79. The company had a trading volume of 12,856,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,199,768. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.98 and a 52 week high of $106.11. The stock has a market cap of $819.53 billion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $99.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.72.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Walmart

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.