Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $908.81.

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated 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 objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $971.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $907.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $871.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $582.83 and a twelve month high of $976.30. The company has a market cap of $430.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,717 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $210,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.