Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $890.00 to $940.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $851.18 and last traded at $851.04. Approximately 290,858 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,961,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $845.96.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $751.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truepoint Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $509,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 65.6% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 5,900 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Altiora Financial Group LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 16.4% in the third quarter. Altiora Financial Group LLC now owns 815 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,389 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $377.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $771.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $719.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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.