Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Given New $98.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Citigroup from $75.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 22.71% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.96.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,920,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,429,305. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $641.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.35. Walmart has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,367,350.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,317,999 shares of company stock worth $956,341,379 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 38.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Walmart by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.