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

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $908.81.

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value 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 $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $971.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $907.62 and a 200 day moving average of $871.42. The company has a market cap of $430.61 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $582.83 and a 12-month high of $976.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.