Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on COST. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $673.36.
Costco Wholesale Stock Performance
COST stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $704.88. 2,251,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,169,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $727.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $648.24. The company has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.77.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. United Bank raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during 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.