Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Increased to $900.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $850.00 to $900.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm restated a neutral rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to an accumulate rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.66 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $810.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $744.39. The company has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $524.63 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.