Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $925.00

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

COST has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $780.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $392.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $870.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $817.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.