Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $758.70.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

COST stock opened at $859.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $380.98 billion, a PE ratio of 53.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $804.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $742.15. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by 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.