Verus Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,264 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 319.7% in the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 267.8% during the second quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Walmart by 432.4% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in Walmart by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 323 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $102.15 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.98 and a 52 week high of $106.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $814.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.61.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). Walmart had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 3.08%.The company had revenue of $169.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $112.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.38.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total value of $403,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,052,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,255,856.80. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.97, for a total value of $1,863,353.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,392,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $421,594,770.45. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,232 shares of company stock valued at $15,083,877 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Profile

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.