Roth Mkm Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective raised by Roth Mkm from $755.00 to $907.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. Roth Mkm’s target price suggests a potential downside of 8.32% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on COST. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $989.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $438.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.09, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $926.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $885.20. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $630.30 and a 52-week high of $1,007.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in 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 buying an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.