Barclays Increases Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $940.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $850.00 to $940.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on COST. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $989.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $926.84 and a 200 day moving average of $884.70. The company has a market capitalization of $438.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.71, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $630.30 and a 12 month high of $1,007.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other 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.