Costco Wholesale’s (COST) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $980.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $950.00.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on COST. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $886.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $871.45 and a 200-day moving average of $818.37. The company has a market capitalization of $393.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.93, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the second quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.