Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares rose 1.3% during trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $996.13 and last traded at $994.56. Approximately 419,855 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,919,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $982.26.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $928.50.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third 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. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $913.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $876.82. The company has a market cap of $439.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.90, a PEG ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.82. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio 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.