Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was up 0.6% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $950.00 to $1,000.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $1,006.68 and last traded at $994.57. Approximately 1,322,442 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 1,921,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $988.39.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s 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 represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $924.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $883.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $438.35 billion, a PE ratio of 59.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

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.