Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,011.74.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Raymond James increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $958.82 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $640.51 and a twelve month high of $1,008.25. The stock has a market cap of $425.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $935.90 and its 200-day moving average is $891.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 17.83 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after buying an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.