Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $775.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $750.00 to $775.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $845.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson restated a neutral rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $743.52.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $809.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $359.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $501.59 and a fifty-two week high of $819.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $750.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $705.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 15.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the first quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. 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.