Research Analysts’ Recent Ratings Updates for Costco Wholesale (COST)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST):

• 3/20/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target lowered by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/11/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 3/10/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $940.00 to $980.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Cowen Inc.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $935.00 to $995.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 3/7/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target lowered by analysts at Loop Capital from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/3/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group. They now have a $1,100.00 price target on the stock.
• 2/14/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group.
• 2/14/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Evercore ISI.
• 2/6/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 2/6/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at DA Davidson from $900.00 to $1,000.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 2/6/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 2/3/2025 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group. They now have a $1,100.00 price target on the stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $5.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $931.25. 402,079 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,823,339. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $987.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $945.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.