Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) PT Raised to $975.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective raised by Tigress Financial from $870.00 to $975.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to an accumulate rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $850.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $796.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $736.82. The firm has a market cap of $377.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

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

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.