Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,418.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 in a research note published on Friday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $955.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,747,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 2,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 880 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 193 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NWF Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 21,882 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,663,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.