Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,075.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $980.00 to $1,075.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on COST. Truist Financial cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $919.51 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $577.34 and a 1-year high of $962.00. The stock has a market cap of $407.41 billion, a PE ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $898.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $860.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.