Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $850.00 to $900.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $850.00 and last traded at $849.76. Approximately 216,710 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 1,958,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $845.67.

COST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $758.70.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $807.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $743.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.