Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on COST. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $870.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $816.70. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Asset Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.