Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,060.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $800.00 to $1,060.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $954.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $422.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $934.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $890.17. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $640.51 and a twelve month high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MN Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.9% in the second quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. &PARTNERS boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 344.8% during the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 16,917 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 13,114 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $2,723,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,005,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.4% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 828 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.