Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $925.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an accumulate rating to a buy rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $886.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $852.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $792.18. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $539.31 and a 52-week high of $918.93. 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 capitalization of $393.07 billion, a PE ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were 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 owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 27,902 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by 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.