Costco Wholesale’s (COST) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by analysts at DA Davidson in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $880.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 1.69% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on COST. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.5 %

COST traded down $13.95 during trading on Thursday, reaching $895.15. The stock had a trading volume of 559,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,952,516. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $879.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $825.10. The company has a market capitalization of $396.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $249,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 60.4% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 14,491 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,840,000 after buying an additional 5,456 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.9% in the third quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.0% in the third quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 2,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walker Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.9% in the third quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 306 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is 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.