Capital Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Capital Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,981 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,161 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 1.3% of Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 319.7% during the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 55.3% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 323 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.07.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.18, for a total transaction of $2,081,006.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,354,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,679,083.16. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.33, for a total transaction of $222,926.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 621,718 shares in the company, valued at $62,998,684.94. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,038 shares of company stock valued at $15,525,280 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.6%

WMT opened at $104.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.08 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $102.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.89. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.81 and a 12-month high of $109.57.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. 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, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Company 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.