Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $925.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $806.23.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $810.30 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $843.58 and a 200 day moving average of $774.12. 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 52 week low of $530.56 and a 52 week high of $896.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.20, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.