Morgan Stanley Increases Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $950.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $855.00 to $950.00 in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $780.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $910.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $844.52.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $915.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $918.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $860.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $804.43. The firm has a market cap of $405.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.69, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.