Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors acquired 74,569 Walmart shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $8.45 million. Other institutional investors also increased their holdings, with institutions owning 26.76% of Walmart stock.
• Walmart beat quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.81 and revenue of $187.94 billion, up 5.9% year over year, driven by strong e-commerce, advertising and membership growth.
• Despite the earnings beat, U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.6% lagged expectations, and Walmart’s third-quarter guidance came in below consensus. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $131.88.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 74,569 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $8,446,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisortrust Partners LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 20.2% in the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,283 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its holdings in Walmart by 253.3% during the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 384,034 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $47,728,000 after purchasing an additional 275,337 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Walmart by 2.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,416,580 shares of the retailer's stock worth $300,333,000 after buying an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer's stock worth $30,676,000 after buying an additional 81,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HORAN Wealth LLC increased its position in Walmart by 55.7% in the first quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer's stock worth $9,931,000 after buying an additional 29,184 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.94 billion, beating consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remain strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38%, and global membership revenue grew 17%. These trends support the long-term investment case despite slower core-store growth. Walmart second-quarter highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to help lower prices, potentially strengthening its value proposition as consumers become more budget-conscious. The rollout of tap-to-pay, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, may also improve checkout convenience. Walmart tap to pay rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts retained bullish ratings—including buy, outperform, and overweight—but lowered price targets after the earnings release. New targets range from $120 to $140, indicating analysts still see meaningful upside but have moderated their expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5%, marking Walmart’s weakest domestic comparable-sales growth in more than six years. Analysts cited weakness in health and wellness and questioned the trajectory of the core U.S. business.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance fell short of consensus: Walmart projected adjusted EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus $0.68 expected and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce quarterly sales growth by more than 100 basis points.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s elevated valuation increases sensitivity to any slowdown, while higher energy costs and consumer trade-offs are raising broader concerns about the health of U.S. retail spending.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Walmart from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Gordon Haskett lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total transaction of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 57,064 shares of company stock worth $6,697,788 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $103.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $825.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $113.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.24. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.42 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.64 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.83% and a net margin of 3.00%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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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