Citigroup Raises Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Price Target to $98.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $75.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

WMT has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Melius Research started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $81.62.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $80.75 on Friday. Walmart has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.71. The company has a market capitalization of $649.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,334,670 shares of company stock worth $958,025,027 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.