Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) PT Raised to $925.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $915.00 to $925.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $861.74.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $901.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $399.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $869.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $814.95. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,510,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.