Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Acquires Shares of 42,526 Walmart Inc. $WMT

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 42,526 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 193.0% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Advertising expansion: Walmart completed its acquisition of Vibe.co, a self-service streaming-TV advertising platform. Integrating the company into Walmart Connect should give advertisers more tools to plan, purchase and measure connected-TV campaigns, potentially strengthening Walmart’s higher-margin advertising business. Walmart Finalizes Purchase of TV Ad Platform Vibe.co
• Positive Sentiment: New growth initiatives: Walmart is expanding drone delivery in Florida through Alphabet’s Wing and offering GLP-1 weight-loss prescriptions with nutrition coaching and AI-based support. These initiatives could improve delivery competitiveness and broaden Walmart’s healthcare opportunity, although their near-term financial impact remains uncertain. Walmart Launches Florida Drone Delivery And GLP 1 Weight Loss Prescriptions
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term case remains intact: Commentators continue to cite Walmart’s scale, e-commerce investments, advertising growth and dividend stability as reasons to hold the stock over the long term. However, these are broad investment views rather than new earnings catalysts. Is Walmart a Good Long-Term Investment?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade and valuation concerns: Oppenheimer downgraded Walmart ahead of its upcoming earnings report, arguing that the stock’s “peakish valuation” leaves it vulnerable to a lower re-rating if U.S. comparable-sales growth slows. With Walmart trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, investors may demand strong guidance and continued momentum. Walmart Downgraded Ahead of Earnings

Walmart Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of WMT opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.42 and a 1 year high of $135.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $887.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $140.00 price target on Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $137.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.56.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $342,751.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 574,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,953,695.07. The trade was a 0.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 626,299 shares in the company, valued at $70,834,416.90. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 71,439 shares of company stock valued at $8,544,532. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Company 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.