Melius Research Initiates Coverage on Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Investment analysts at Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Melius Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on COST. Argus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $857.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $901.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $399.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.86, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $867.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $813.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.