Oppenheimer Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $950.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $905.00 to $950.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $789.15.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $884.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $392.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $526.15 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $825.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $751.69.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WNY Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.7% during the third quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 101,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $66,763,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,495 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 1,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 45 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.