In the third quarter, CIBC Asset Management Inc. boosted its Walmart holdings by 0.7%, acquiring an additional 5,434 shares to bring its total to 820,277 shares. This position was valued at approximately $84.5 million at quarter end. Other institutional investors also increased stakes: Revolve Wealth Partners LLC added 96 shares to reach 9,926; Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought 98 shares for a total of 8,707; Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew by 99 shares to 4,804; Hemington Wealth Management added 99 shares to 5,695; and Boomfish Wealth Group LLC purchased 99 shares, lifting its holding to 3,701. Collectively, these moves underline growing confidence among hedge funds and asset managers, with institutions now owning 26.76% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Walmart reported third-quarter revenues of $179.5 billion, a 5.8% year-over-year increase, surpassing consensus estimates by $4.35 billion. Earnings per share came in at $0.62, beating forecasts by $0.02. The company achieved a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 21.31%. On the back of robust performance, management issued full-year fiscal 2026 earnings guidance of $2.580 to $2.630 per share, positioning investors to anticipate mid-single-digit EPS growth in the year ahead.

Among 34 brokerage and research firms covering Walmart, 32 maintain Buy or Overweight ratings, while 2 have Hold ratings. Recent actions include BTIG Research reaffirming its Buy stance with a $125 price target, KeyCorp reiterating Overweight at $128, Deutsche Bank downgrading to Hold with a $119 objective, Piper Sandler raising its target from $111 to $123, and DA Davidson assigning a $130 target alongside a Buy rating. The consensus price target stands at $123.20, indicating a potential mid-single-digit upside relative to current consensus levels.

In mid-January, CEO C. Douglas McMillon sold 19,416 shares, reducing his stake by 0.45%, generating proceeds of approximately $2.31 million. Executive VPs Daniel Danker and Donna Morris also disposed of 4,365 and 9,384 shares respectively, trimming their positions by 1.8% and 1.72%. While these insider sales represent a small fraction of total ownership, they coincide with recent short-term share weakness that saw intraday declines reported on January 22. This confluence of modest insider liquidation and price softness has introduced a slight negative bias to sentiment, even as fundamentals remain intact.