Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $900.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $850.00 to $900.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on COST. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to an accumulate rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $862.66 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. 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 firm has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $810.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $744.39.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the first quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.