Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,040.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $840.00 to $1,040.00 in a report released on Thursday morning. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $989.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $438.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.09, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $926.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $885.20. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $630.30 and a 1-year high of $1,007.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly 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. The company 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 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was 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 Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % 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 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in 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 worth $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.