Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shot up 1.5% during trading on Monday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $980.00 to $1,075.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $921.89 and last traded at $920.53. 301,511 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,922,735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $907.07.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,917,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,115,000. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 301 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.12 billion, a PE ratio of 56.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $898.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $862.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

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.