J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 402,929 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 79,026 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Walmart were worth $39,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its holdings in Walmart by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 56,140 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,489,000 after buying an additional 3,696 shares during the period. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management increased its holdings in Walmart by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 38,213 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,355,000 after buying an additional 9,831 shares during the period. Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,107,000. Night Squared LP acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,052,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Walmart by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 55,004 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,829,000 after buying an additional 26,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.33, for a total transaction of $222,926.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 621,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,998,684.94. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.21, for a total transaction of $2,003,925.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,373,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,396,778.96. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,232 shares of company stock worth $15,083,877 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $102.15 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $814.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.67. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.98 and a 52-week high of $106.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.61.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.38.

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.