Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Increased to $900.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $850.00 to $900.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on COST. 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an outperform rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $859.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $804.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $742.15. The company has a market cap of $380.98 billion, a PE ratio of 53.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.