DA Davidson Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $880.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at DA Davidson from $780.00 to $880.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.67% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.7 %

COST traded down $15.47 on Friday, reaching $885.97. 1,762,469 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,163. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $869.72 and its 200-day moving average is $814.95. 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 company has a market cap of $392.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.89, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.