Ethic Inc. Buys 10,947 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Walmart Inc. by 9.8%, owning a total of 122,500 shares valued at approximately $11.9 million after purchasing an additional 10,947 shares in Q2.
• Other significant hedge fund activities included Kingstone Capital Partners increasing its holdings by 397,264.9% and Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake valued at over $2.5 billion.
• Walmart's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.68, below the consensus estimate of $0.74, with revenues of $169.34 billion, missing the expected $174.02 billion.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,500 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 10,947 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Walmart by 397,264.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,496,702,000 after purchasing an additional 104,488,610 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $2,532,331,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Walmart by 527.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,739,038 shares of the retailer's stock worth $591,620,000 after buying an additional 5,664,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Walmart by 28,684.8% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,229,354 shares of the retailer's stock worth $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 4,214,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.21, for a total transaction of $2,003,925.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,373,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $451,396,778.96. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.78, for a total transaction of $1,414,612.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 892,940 shares in the company, valued at $96,241,073.20. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,038 shares of company stock worth $14,869,054 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $106.17 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $101.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.22. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.81 and a fifty-two week high of $109.57. The company has a market capitalization of $846.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.67. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion during 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 firm'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 posted $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 forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Walmart from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.67.

Walmart Company 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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