Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.01 Million Stock Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. by 13.3%, now owning shares worth $2.01 million after acquiring additional shares in the second quarter.
• A significant number of institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have also increased their stakes in Walmart, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Walmart's latest earnings report showed a missed EPS target of $0.68, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.74, with quarterly revenue reported at $169.34 billion.

Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 13.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,558 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,418 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.8% during 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. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 397,264.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,496,702,000 after buying an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 387,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 823,020 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Walmart from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $112.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Walmart in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.75, for a total transaction of $431,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,044,455 shares in the company, valued at $112,540,026.25. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.46, for a total value of $166,563.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 644,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,249,158.28. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,622 shares of company stock valued at $13,444,273. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:WMT opened at $107.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $853.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $101.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.28. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.81 and a 1 year high of $109.57. 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 (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

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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