Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Given New $890.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price increased by Evercore ISI from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $848.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $788.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $732.58. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $519.34 and a one year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.