Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 114.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,514 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,154 shares during the quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Taylor Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,460 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Walmart by 40.8% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 1,141,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $111,616,000 after buying an additional 330,600 shares in the last quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 0.8% during the second quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. now owns 109,146 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Walmart by 12.7% in the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 26,113 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Facet Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 28.4% in the second quarter. Facet Wealth Inc. now owns 9,246 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 2,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.78, for a total value of $1,414,612.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 892,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,241,073.20. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.46, for a total transaction of $166,563.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 644,418 shares in the company, valued at $69,249,158.28. The trade was a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 151,038 shares of company stock valued at $15,525,280. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $104.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.89. The company has a market cap of $833.08 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.67. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.81 and a 1-year high of $109.57.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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, equities research analysts anticipate 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.