The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $995.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $876.00 to $995.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $870.67 and a 200-day moving average of $817.28. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in 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 grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,842,241,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.