Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 19,154 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 34.7%, acquiring an additional 19,154 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 74,340 shares valued at approximately $7.27 million.
• Several institutional investors raised their positions in Walmart, with Merit Financial Group seeing the largest increase of 58.9% in their holdings during the same period.
• Walmart's recent quarterly earnings report indicated a miss on EPS with a reported $0.68 per share versus the expected $0.74, accompanied by a revenue of $169.34 billion which also fell short of analyst expectations.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,340 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 19,154 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $7,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 20,334 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares in the last quarter. Hubbell Strickland Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 13.3% during the second quarter. Hubbell Strickland Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,147 shares of the retailer's stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. JSF Financial LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 19,231 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,880,000 after acquiring an additional 6,032 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 253,098 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $24,748,000 after acquiring an additional 93,768 shares during the period. Finally, Kercheville Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 52,139 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,098,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.38.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WMT opened at $102.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.98 and a twelve month high of $106.11. The company has a market cap of $818.81 billion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $100.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.87.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.74, for a total transaction of $1,361,587.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 906,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,995,079.36. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $415,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,048,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,861,082.65. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,232 shares of company stock worth $15,083,877 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.