Wealthfront Advisers LLC Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Wealthfront Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 620,690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20,825 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $70,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart News Roundup

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.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

Walmart stock opened at $103.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.26. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.42 and a 52 week high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $825.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $113.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the sale, 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 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 valued at $6,697,788 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.