Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $925.00 at TD Cowen

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price raised by TD Cowen from $850.00 to $925.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to an accumulate rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of COST opened at $848.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $376.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. 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 50-day moving average price of $831.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $756.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,135 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,576 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after buying an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.