Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $980.00 to $1,075.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $921.89 and last traded at $920.53. Approximately 301,511 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,922,735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $907.07.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $285,618,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $898.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $860.94. The company has a market cap of $407.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

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.