Gradient Investments LLC Trims Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in Walmart by 2.8%, owning 396,702 shares valued at approximately $38.79 million after selling 11,227 shares in Q2.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their stakes in Walmart, indicating renewed interest in the stock.
• Walmart's latest earnings report showed a miss in earnings per share, reporting $0.68 against an expected $0.74, with revenue falling short at $169.34 billion compared to estimates of $174.02 billion.

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 396,702 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 11,227 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $38,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock worth $37,395,120,000 after buying an additional 3,224,154 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 30,874,987 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,710,665,000 after buying an additional 387,424 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Walmart by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,188,142 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,562,427,000 after buying an additional 823,020 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $2,532,331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 18th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.76.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $103.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $825.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.65. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. Walmart's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. 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, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,052,455 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,655 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.38, for a total transaction of $166,128.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 647,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,003,879.64. This trade represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,551,646 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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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