Hennessy Advisors Inc. Invests $10.10 Million in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors Inc. has invested approximately $10.10 million in Walmart Inc., acquiring 103,300 shares during the second quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Walmart, with Operose Advisors LLC lifting their holdings by 319.7% in the first quarter.
• Walmart's latest earnings report showed it had a decrease in EPS to $0.68, missing analysts' expectations, with revenues of $169.34 billion, below the anticipated $174.02 billion.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 103,300 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $10,101,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 319.7% in the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 267.8% in the second quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 323 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 432.4% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.38.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 932,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Suresh Kumar sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.47, for a total value 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 worth $15,083,877. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $102.15 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $100.77 and its 200 day moving average is $96.68. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.98 and a 1 year high of $106.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $814.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.67.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.Walmart's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart 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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