Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $850.00 to $940.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $1,006.68 and last traded at $994.57. Approximately 1,322,442 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 1,921,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $988.39.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $981.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,539,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the third quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 3,954 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,506,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $924.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $883.45. The company has a market cap of $442.57 billion, a PE ratio of 60.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.