Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $980.00 at Barclays

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $940.00 to $980.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $934.41 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $989.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.28. The company has a market capitalization of $414.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,311,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $378,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $516,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,313,000. Finally, TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,690,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.