BMO Capital Markets Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BMO Capital Markets in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $980.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $950.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 10.66% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen raised 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. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $870.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $816.70.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company 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 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings 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 period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during 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 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.