Helen Stephens Group Loads Up on WMT Shares in Q2

Key Points

• Helen Stephens Group bought $3.11 million worth of Walmart shares.

• The trade equals 0.77% of Helen Stephens Group's reportable assets under management.

• The firm's post-trade Walmart stake now totals 51,470 shares, valued at $5.03 million.

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What happened

A July 2, 2025, SEC filing shows Helen Stephens Group, LLC increased its position in Walmart(NYSE:WMT) by acquiring 33,543 additional shares in fiscal 2025's second quarter. The transaction lifted the fund’s total Walmart holdings to 51,470 shares, with a post-trade value of $5.03 million.

What else do you need to know?

Helen Stephens Group, LLC added to its Walmart position, bringing the holding to 1.25% of its overall assets under management.

Top five holdings after the filing:

1. Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF (DFUS): $46.62 million (11.6% of AUM)
2. Dimensional International Core Equity 2 ETF (DFIC): $40.6 million (10.1% of AUM)
3. Qualys (QUAL): $40.2 million (10% of AUM)
4. iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG): $30.8 million (7.6% of AUM)
5. Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF (DFAC): $26.98 million (6.7% of AUM)

Other need-to-know facts about Walmart:

• Walmart stock was trading at $97.92 on July 8, 2025, up 39.9% over the past year. It outperformed the S&P 500 by 28 percentage points during that span.
• The forward price/earnings ratio is 37.4.
• Walmart shares currently trade 6.8% below their 52-week high.

Company overview

Note: Trailing 12-month (TTM) figures are as of April 30, 2025.

Company snapshot

• Offers a broad portfolio of retail products and services, including groceries, consumables, health and wellness items, apparel, home goods, electronics, and financial services across physical stores and e-commerce platforms.
• Operates a diversified business model via supercenters, discount stores, warehouse clubs, and digital channels.
• Serves customers worldwide.

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer by revenue, leveraging scale and operational efficiency to deliver a broad assortment of products at competitive prices. The company’s omnichannel strategy integrates physical stores with digital platforms to enhance customer reach and convenience. Walmart’s extensive global footprint and diversified offerings underpin its strong market position in the consumer defensive sector.

Foolish take

In just the past three years, Walmart stock has more than doubled investors’ money. That’s because while many still see Walmart as a boring retailer selling goods for daily use through its physical stores, the company is silently but swiftly growing its e-commerce footprint.

To put some numbers to that, while Walmart’s total sales grew 4% year over year in the first quarter, its global e-commerce sales jumped 22%. It was, in fact, the first-ever profitable quarter for the company’s e-commerce business. E-commerce is likely to become a key growth driver for Walmart, both in terms of sales and margins. The company, meanwhile, is also tapping newer profit streams such as membership and digital advertising, all of which should boost its margins.

When analyzing the big picture beyond tariffs and the Trump administration's trade war with multiple countries, Walmart has some solid growth catalysts in place. While its core business should continue to drive comparable-store sales even during periods of economic uncertainty, verticals like e-commerce and advertising should help management meet its long-term goals of growing annual sales by 4% and operating income even faster than sales.

Even though Walmart stock looks pricey at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of nearly 42, it should remain a winner in the long term, both for growth and income investors. For those in the know, Walmart is a Dividend King, having increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years.

Glossary

• 13F reportable assets: Securities that institutional investment managers must report quarterly to the SEC on Form 13F.
• Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or financial institution.
• SEC filing: Official documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, often disclosing financial or ownership information.
• Portfolio: A collection of financial investments held by an individual or institution.
• Dividend yield: Annual dividend income expressed as a percentage of a stock’s current price.
• Forward price/earnings ratio: A valuation metric comparing a company’s current share price to its expected future earnings per share.
• Outperforming the S&P 500: Achieving a higher investment return than the S&P 500 index over a given period.
• Consumer defensive sector: Industry category for companies providing essential goods and services that remain in demand during economic downturns.
• Supercenters: Large retail stores combining a full grocery store with a wide range of general merchandise.
• Warehouse clubs: Membership-based retail stores offering bulk goods at discounted prices.
• TTM (Trailing 12 Months): Financial data calculated for the most recent 12 consecutive months.
• Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held in a portfolio.

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Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Qualys and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.