Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $805.00 to $850.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $805.30 and last traded at $804.26. Approximately 310,553 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,961,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $801.86.
A number of other analysts have also issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $810.00 to $820.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $696.88.
View Our Latest Analysis on Costco Wholesale
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Costco Wholesale Price Performance
The firm has a market capitalization of $353.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $740.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $693.83.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.
Costco Wholesale Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
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.
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