Stifel Nicolaus Increases Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $900.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $850.00 to $900.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and set a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $859.36 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The firm has a market cap of $380.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.24, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $804.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $742.15.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth 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 holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is 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.