Tigress Financial Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $975.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price increased by Tigress Financial from $870.00 to $975.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $850.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $796.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $736.82. 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 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The company has a market capitalization of $377.11 billion, a PE ratio of 52.77, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 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.