Brokerages Set Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target at $908.81

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $928.50.

COST has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $992.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $913.65 and a 200 day moving average of $876.82. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $606.35 and a 12 month high of $997.71.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.