Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 93,768 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. by 58.9%, purchasing 93,768 shares to own a total of 253,098 shares worth approximately $24.75 million.
• Notable increases in Walmart holdings also occurred among other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, with Walmart's current institutional ownership at 26.76%.
• Walmart's recent quarterly earnings revealed a miss in EPS estimates, reporting $0.68 compared to the consensus of $0.74, and a revenue of $169.34 billion, which was below expectations.

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 58.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,098 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 93,768 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $24,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,395,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,154 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during 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 last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,861,082.65. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.33, for a total value of $222,926.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 621,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,998,684.94. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,232 shares of company stock worth $15,083,877. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $102.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.87. The stock has a market cap of $818.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.67. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.98 and a 52-week high of $106.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.38.

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.

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