Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) PT Raised to $925.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $915.00 to $925.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $886.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $393.03 billion, a PE ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $871.45 and a 200-day moving average of $818.37. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,510,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.