Loop Capital Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $970.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target upped by Loop Capital from $940.00 to $970.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $842.90 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $829.88 and its 200-day moving average is $754.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $530.56 and a 52 week high of $896.67. The firm has a market cap of $373.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WNY Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.7% during the third quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 101,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $66,763,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,495 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,287,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 1,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.