Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $950.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $875.00 to $950.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an accumulate rating to a buy rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $877.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $847.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $780.75. The company has a market cap of $388.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.