Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $950.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $900.00 to $950.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $791.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded down $9.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $874.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 403,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,942,910. The firm has a market capitalization of $387.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. 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 12 month low of $530.56 and a 12 month high of $896.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $825.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $751.69.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the second quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 476 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.7% in the second quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,170,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 7,412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,300,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,377 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,670,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.