SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Makes New $1.50 Million Investment in Walmart Inc. $WMT

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,205 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,496,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.5% in the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,272,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,931,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart enters the report with a strong earnings track record, having exceeded revenue expectations for 25 consecutive quarters. Analysts also see potential for another earnings beat, supported by e-commerce momentum and a growing contribution from Walmart Connect advertising. Walmart Q2 Preview
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s grocery leadership, expanding online business and higher-margin retail-media operations remain important long-term strengths. Advertising growth could help offset the cost of competitive pricing and faster delivery. DA Davidson also reiterated a Buy rating. Retail stagnates, ad dollars help Walmart stay the course
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders expect a significant post-earnings move, highlighting elevated volatility and the possibility that results or guidance could materially change the stock’s near-term direction. Barchart data ahead of Walmart earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Thousands of price reductions may support customer traffic but could slow sales growth and pressure profit margins. Same-store sales momentum has moderated, increasing investor dependence on advertising and other higher-margin businesses. Walmart sales growth expected to slow
• Negative Sentiment: Several previews characterize WMT as expensive ahead of earnings, with a price-to-earnings ratio near 40 and a cautious outlook already weighing on sentiment. Investors may require a clear earnings or guidance upside to justify the valuation. Walmart valuation concern ahead of Q2 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Walmart’s grocery advantage faces a margin test as shoppers increasingly purchase additional goods from Amazon, while elevated costs and cautious consumers could limit profitability. Walmart grocery margin test

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Walmart from a “market perform” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.50.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $114.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $909.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.61. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.42 and a 52-week high of $135.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.03 and its 200 day moving average is $121.49.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total value of $413,891.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,074,186.76. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total transaction of $1,435,203.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,985,527.94. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 54,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,389,402 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.