Evanson Financial LLC Invests $574,000 in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Evanson Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 5,064 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisortrust Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 67,142 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,344,000 after acquiring an additional 11,283 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA boosted its stake in Walmart by 253.3% during the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 384,034 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,728,000 after buying an additional 275,337 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,416,580 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,333,000 after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 275,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,676,000 after purchasing an additional 81,635 shares during the period. Finally, HORAN Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 55.7% in the first quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 81,544 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,931,000 after purchasing an additional 29,184 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Freedom Capital raised Walmart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $142.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.56.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $111.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $890.11 billion, a PE ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.66. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $95.42 and a one year high of $135.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $1,308,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 120,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,550.91. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 626,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,834,416.90. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,439 shares of company stock worth $8,544,532. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Walmart

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.