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

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,021.93.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,065.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.54, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,067.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $964.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $918.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently 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.